Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya emerged as the new president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), after polling 12,317 votes in the election held on Saturday.

The Peoples Gazette highlights some facts about the 59-year-old legal luminary.

Ms Badejo-Okusanya was born on January 15, 1967, and was raised on the University of Lagos (UNILAG) campus, Akoka, Lagos. She is married to Yomi Badejo-Okusanya.

The NBA president-elect is the first woman elected to occupy the position of the association’s president. She is the 33rd president-elect of the NBA.

Ms Badejo-Okusanya is the second woman to lead the association, following Priscilla Kuye, who became the NBA’s first female president between 1991 and 1992 by constitutional succession. Ms Kuye succeeded Clement Akpamgbo, who resigned at the time to become Nigeria’s attorney general and minister of justice.

The president-elect first earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language from the University of Lagos. She subsequently studied law at UNILAG and obtained an LL.M in commercial and corporate law from Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom. 

She is an accredited mediator of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and a member of several organisations, including the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), Arbitral Women, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the International Bar Association (IBA), among others.

She previously served as a senior special assistant on justice sector reform to former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2007. In 2017, she became a founding partner of Africa Law Practice NG & Co, where she has since served as the co-head of the litigation and dispute resolution practice.

Ms Badejo-Okusanya served as assistant secretary of the NBA Lagos branch. In 2024, she was awarded the NBA Presidential Medal of Service in recognition of her outstanding service. On September 29, 2025, she was conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

The NBA president-elect and the incumbent Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, are sisters. The duo are daughters of the late Professor Olufolabi Olumide, the first vice-chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU) and Clara Folasade Olumide, the first female registrar of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).