Team size: Twelve

Jurisdictions your role covers: Nigeria and Cross Border Africa

What role does corporate counsel play in strengthening corporate governance in light of Nigeria’s recent reforms and stakeholder expectations?

Corporate counsel plays a central role in translating Nigeria’s evolving corporate governance reforms into practical, operational discipline. Drawing on my transition from an in-house role at International Breweries to my current position at EY, I approach governance not as a compliance checklist but as a value-protection framework. My team strengthens entity compliance and regulatory governance by proactively interpreting reforms across company law, financial reporting, data protection, tax, and sector regulation, and embedding them into board processes, risk management, transaction advisory, and internal controls. We work closely with leadership and business teams to align regulatory expectations with stakeholder priorities; transparency, accountability, and sustainability, while ensuring decisions are defensible, auditable, and resilient to regulatory scrutiny. In this way, corporate counsel acts as both a strategic adviser and a governance anchor, enabling organisations to meet heightened stakeholder expectations with confidence and credibility.

How do you advise on cross-border transactions and foreign investment, given Nigeria’s complex regulatory and dispute resolution landscape?

As in-house counsel, I advise on cross-border and foreign investment transactions by embedding regulatory and dispute-resolution thinking directly into commercial decision-making. I work closely with finance, tax, and business teams to anticipate Nigeria’s regulatory touchpoints, exchange control, sector licensing, competition, and tax, early in the transaction lifecycle, ensuring deal structures are implementable, not just legally sound.

My advisory focus is on translating regulatory complexity into clear options for the business, stress-testing transaction mechanics, and embedding risk-allocation, exit protections, and arbitration-ready dispute frameworks that preserve value. This approach enables the business to move confidently, compliantly, and decisively in a complex and evolving investment environment.