Badejo-Okusanya polled 12,317 votes, representing 47.18 percent of the total votes cast, to defeat her closest challenger, Lateef Akangbe, who secured 7,934 votes (30.39%).
Olumuyiwa Akinboro, the third presidential candidate, polled 5,855 votes, representing 22.43 percent of the total votes.
Badejo-Okusanya is the second woman to lead the NBA in its history, and the first to be elected directly.
Priscilla Kuye, the first female NBA president, assumed office in January 1992, after the association’s then-president, Clement Akpamgbo, was appointed attorney-general of the federation (AGF). Kuye later contested the presidency in her own right that year but was unsuccessful.
In the more than three decades that followed, Funke Adekoya, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was the only other woman to contest the NBA presidency.
She ran in 2006 and again in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Foluke Dada-Lawanson also entered the 2026 race before withdrawing after Egbe Amofin O’odua adopted a consensus candidate from the western zone.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Badejo-Okusanya was born on January 15, 1967, in Lagos. She is the first child of the late Olufolabi Olumide, a general surgeon who became the first vice-chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), and Clara Folasade Abiodun Olumide (née Solarin), a university administrator who rose to become the first female registrar of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
She grew up on the University of Lagos campus at Akoka, in an academic household that placed strong emphasis on integrity, hard work and service — values she has cited as shaping her career and commitment to public-service.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in English from the University of Lagos in 1987 before returning to the institution to study law, obtaining her LL. B (Hons) in 2000.
By her own account, she initially stepped away from pursuing law after her first degree, delaying her legal training for more than a decade before resuming her studies. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Badejo-Okusanya began her legal career at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, one of Nigeria’s leading commercial law firms, where she developed expertise in litigation and advisory practice.
In 2007, she was appointed senior special assistant on justice sector reform to Babatunde Raji Fashola, then governor of Lagos state, and worked in the office of the attorney-general and commissioner for justice, Olasupo Shasore, SAN.
In that role, she contributed to justice sector reforms, including the relocation of the office of the public defender and changes to inmate transportation arrangements.
In 2011, she was appointed general counsel to the governor of Lagos state, a position she held until 2015. During her eight years in the Lagos state government, she advised on public-private partnerships (PPP), arbitration legislation, consumer protection, and the state’s home-ownership mortgage scheme.
In 2017, Badejo-Okusanya became a founding partner of Africa Law Practice NG & Company (ALP NG & Co.), where she serves as co-head of the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice. She advises private individuals, corporations and government institutions on complex commercial disputes before Nigerian trial and appellate courts, as well as in domestic and international arbitral proceedings. Her areas of practice focus on intellectual property, media and entertainment law, and public-sector regulatory compliance.
Badejo-Okusanya is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and an accredited CEDR mediator. She served on the executive committee of CIArb’s Nigeria branch and chaired its annual conference planning committee for three consecutive years.
She has served on the board of the Lagos Court of Arbitration since 2015 and was a member of the Nigeria economic summit group/national assembly business environment roundtable (NESG-NASSBER) arbitration and Dispute Resolution working group, contributing to the reform process that produced Nigeria’s Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023.
She is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the African Arbitration Association, ArbitralWomen, the International Bar Association (IBA), the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), and the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). She is also a life member of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA).
PATH TO NBA PRESIDENCY
Before her successful presidential bid, Badejo-Okusanya had served the NBA in various capacities for more than two decades.
Her roles included assistant secretary of the NBA Lagos branch, delegate to the 2006 NBA elections, member of the NBA Lagos branch Building committee, member of the technical committee on conference planning across successive NBA administrations, chair of the NBA Lagos branch annual dinner committee (2021–2022), member of the Future of the legal profession committee, member of the conference investigation committee, alternate chair of the 2023 annual general conference planning committee, and Chair of the 2024 annual general conference planning committee.
She has been a co-opted member of the NBA national executive council (NEC) since 2022 and received the NBA presidential medal of service in August 2024. She was elevated to the rank of senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on September 29, 2025.
Badejo-Okusanya entered the 2026 NBA presidential race as the only female candidate among three senior advocates of Nigeria seeking to succeed outgoing president, Afam Osigwe.
The presidency for the 2026 cycle was zoned to the western axis of the country. Her candidacy, under the slogan “A Bolder Bar That Works for Everyone,” focused on lawyers’ welfare, institutional accountability, and reducing the cost of legal practice.
The election was contested against a backdrop of controversy. Egbe Amofin O’odua, an association of lawyers of Yoruba extraction, sought to have the NBA recognise Olumuyiwa Akinboro as the sole consensus candidate for the western zone. The group pursued its position through litigation at the Oyo state high court.
Separately, Akinboro and Lateef Akangbe jointly raised concerns about the fairness of the electoral process. The electoral committee of the NBA (ECNBA) also disclosed that its voting platform had been targeted by a coordinated cyberattack shortly before polls were due to open, delaying the start of voting.
Voting was conducted electronically over 24 hours from 7:35 am on Saturday, July 18 to 7:34 am on Sunday, July 19, after the election portal was migrated to a new, secured domain.
Badejo-Okusanya maintained an early lead throughout the exercise and steadily widened the margin over her rivals. She was declared the winner after polling 12,317 votes (47.18%) of 26,106 ballots cast, ahead of Akangbe and Akinboro.
PERSONAL LIFE
Badejo-Okusanya is married to Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, and they have a son. She is a chorister and church Steward at Emmanuel Chapel, Methodist Church Nigeria in Ikoyi, Lagos. She has also listed reading, music and travelling among her personal interests.