President-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya (SAN), has declared that she will resign immediately if a post-election audit establishes that she benefited from any form of manipulation in the July 18 NBA presidential election.
Badejo-Okusanya, who emerged as the 33rd President of the NBA and the first woman elected through the association’s universal suffrage system, made the pledge while responding to allegations by some of her opponents that the election was rigged.
Speaking during an interview on TVC, the senior advocate also announced plans to subject the election to an independent post-election audit, insisting that transparency and the credibility of the Bar’s electoral process remain paramount.
“I had no desire to be a president whose electoral process is being questioned,” she said.
“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.
“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.”
The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) declared Badejo-Okusanya winner after she secured 12,317 votes, defeating Lateef Akangbe (SAN), who polled 7,934 votes, and Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro (SAN), who garnered 5,855 votes.
A total of 26,184 lawyers voted electronically, representing a 36 per cent turnout from 82,172 registered voters.
The president-elect disclosed that she had made efforts to reconcile with her defeated opponents in the interest of unity within the Bar but said her attempts had so far been unsuccessful.
According to her, she personally visited one of the candidates at his office but was politely asked to leave, while another did not return her call.
“I have every intention of being gracious and magnanimous,” she said.
“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.
“I have no desire not to reach out to them or work with them or seek their support.”
Badejo-Okusanya acknowledged that the election experienced technical difficulties after a cyberattack crippled the initial electronic voting platform.
She explained that following concerns raised by contestants, the Electoral Committee had upgraded the voting system to include telephone numbers for one-time passwords (OTPs), but the platform was subsequently attacked, forcing service providers to develop an entirely new system within hours.
“There was a cyberattack designed to ensure that the system didn’t work,” she said.
“It took a miracle for another server to be designed. Within about three or four hours, a completely different platform was built and that was what we started using.
“There were glitches here and there, but it largely withstood the pressure of lawyers voting throughout the 24 hours.”
In a surprising revelation, the president-elect said she may have been among those disenfranchised, as her name did not appear on the final voters’ list despite successfully casting her vote.
“I actually voted. I pressed submit. It was only when my co-opponents said I wasn’t able to vote that I checked and didn’t find my name on the voters’ list,” she said.
Defending the integrity of the exercise, Badejo-Okusanya argued that the election came under unprecedented public scrutiny, making manipulation highly unlikely.
“This electoral process has come under the greatest scrutiny that any of our elections have come under since we started universal suffrage and electronic voting,” she said.
“I think even the people who maintain that this election was rigged know very well that the level of scrutiny it came under would have made it very difficult for anybody to manipulate it.
“From the time that I led, I led the election throughout consistently. There was never a time that I dropped down. There was never a time that any of my opponents passed me. I led consistently, and the gap kept widening.”
She also dismissed claims that votes were manipulated during collation, noting that results were uploaded gradually in real time.
“The votes were trickling in organically. There was no evidence of dumping. You didn’t suddenly see 20, 30 or 50 votes coming in at once. This election was the most watched.
“The system refreshed every 10 seconds and people were watching and reposting the results in real time.”
Responding to suggestions that outgoing NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), had endorsed her candidacy, Badejo-Okusanya said she was never informed that she was his preferred successor.
“As a matter of fact, he never told me that. If he said it to anyone else, he never said it to me. I simply concentrated on my campaign,” she said.
She also rejected insinuations that her family ties to the administration of President Bola Tinubu would compromise the independence of the NBA under her leadership.
“How can I be the candidate of the Tinubu administration when the Tinubu administration is not a member of the NBA?” she asked.
“The constitution of the NBA is very clear. I read it very closely before I offered myself to serve.
“I have the mandate of members of the NBA to lead them. My obligation is to them.”
Looking ahead to her tenure, Badejo-Okusanya said restoring unity within the legal profession and improving lawyers’ welfare would be among her immediate priorities.
Describing the association as deeply divided, she said dissatisfaction among members became evident during her nationwide consultations ahead of the election.
“My members-first principle is certainly on top of my agenda,” she said.
“Anything and everything that puts members first, ensures their welfare, ensures that they thrive professionally, ensures that lawyers can earn better, live better and practise better will be my priority.”
She also pledged to strengthen the NBA’s role in promoting the rule of law, safeguarding judicial independence, improving access to justice and defending the integrity of both the legal profession and the judiciary.
“I want Nigerians 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 the defender of those who are less able to speak for themselves very seriously.
“A voice for the voiceless, that’s what I’d like us to be remembered for,” Badejo-Okusanya said.
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