By Afolabi Samuel Odunayo
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Afam Osigwe has secured a landslide victory to become the new president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), defeating two other candidates by a significant margin.
The election, held on Saturday, saw Osigwe, the former General Secretary of the NBA, garner more than half of the votes cast.
Osigwe, who served as the NBA scribe from 2014 to 2016, received 20,435 votes.
Tobenna Erojikwe trailed in second place with 10,998 votes, while Chukwuka Ikuazom, who withdrew from the race midway, finished third with 9,018 votes.
The election, conducted electronically, allowed accredited NBA members to vote between 12 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. on Saturday.
A total of 40,451 votes were counted for the office of the NBA president, with 205 abstentions.
The Electoral Committee of the NBA updated the results portal every minute during the election, revealing winners for nine other national officer positions.
Zonal representatives from the Eastern, Northern, and Western zones were also elected.
Osigwe, whose legal career spans 25 years since being called to the Bar in 1999, will become the 32nd president of the association.
He is set to take over from the outgoing president, Yakubu Maikyau, who will complete his two-year tenure in August.
The inauguration of the newly elected national officers is expected to take place during the NBA’s 2024 Annual Conference, scheduled to be held in Lagos from August 23 to 28, 2024.
