NBA President-Elect, Vows To Resign If Post Election Audit Pinpoint She Gained From Irregularities

By Ayodele Oni

Following allegations of rigging during the Nigeria Bar Association, (NBA), election, the president elect, Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN has promised to subject the poll to audit.

Badejo-Okusanya stated this during an interview on TVC News, while responding to allegations by some contestants and lawyers that the 2026 NBA presidential election was manipulated in her favour.

“I will subject this electoral process to a post-election audit and, in the very unlikely event, because I know there was no rigging, that it is discovered that I would not have won but for some manipulation, I will resign immediately.

“Not only will I resign immediately, but I will also join in ensuring the electoral reforms that I plan to embark upon as president.”

Despite defending the integrity of the election, the president-elect said she would subject the process to an audit to strengthen confidence in the association’s electoral system.

She said: “I had no desire to be a president whose electoral process is being questioned.

“I told my co-contestants publicly that if there was any indication or allegation that the process that brought me to office was flawed, I wouldn’t even discuss it with anyone before I resign. That remains my position.

The senior advocate acknowledged that the election witnessed technical difficulties following a cyberattack that disrupted the initial voting platform.

According to her, the ECNBA had initially conceded to demands by contestants to strengthen the voting system by incorporating telephone numbers for one-time passwords (OTPs) before the platform came under attack.

She spoke on efforts at reconciliation after the election ssying “I visited one of them in his office but was politely asked to leave, while another did not return her call.

“I have every intention of being gracious and magnanimous. I have no reason to gloat. God has been good to me. Many people didn’t give me a chance. I worked very, very hard and God crowned my efforts.

On claims that she enjoyed the backing of the outgoing NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, she said he never informed her that she was his preferred candidate.

“As a matter of fact, he never told me that.

“If he said it to anyone else, he never said it to me. I don’t know whether the cordiality and civility that he showed to me, whether I don’t have any impression that he wasn’t showing it to anyone else,” she said.

Mrs Badejo-Okusanya, who made history as the first woman elected to lead the NBA through universal suffrage, vowed that her loyalty would be to NBA members, rather than the Federal Government, dismissing suggestions that her family ties to the Tinubu administration would influence her leadership.

“How can I be the candidate of the Tinubu administration when the Tinubu administration is not a member of the NBA?

“The constitution of the NBA is very clear. I read it very closely before I offered myself to serve. I’m well aware of the responsibilities of the president of the NBA, and I have the mandate of members of the NBA to lead them. My obligation is to them.”

Badejo-Okusanya said she wanted her tenure to be remembered for making the NBA more professionally relevant to its members and for defending the rule of law.

“For the members, I want them to remember my presidency as one that made the NBA more relevant to them professionally.

“For Nigerians, I want them to remember the NBA as one that took its responsibility to protect and promote the rule of law, to be the watchdog of society and to defend those who are less able to speak for themselves very, very seriously,” she said