Introduction The recent signing of the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) between the United Kingdom and Nigeria heralds significant economic opportunities for both nations. The UK Government held that apart from other trade sectors, the agreement will see Nigeria commit to working towards removing barriers preventing UK lawyers from practising international and foreign law in Nigeria, a step that could significantly increase UK legal services exports. However, amidst the celebrations of this landmark agreement, questions arise about the extent of policy engagement by crucial stakeholders, particularly the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). This article delves into the necessity of oversight…
Author: Victor Opatola
In a recent development that ought to spark public outcry, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) held a retreat for its Board and Management in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. What caught the attention of many was the decision to broadcast the event live on AriseTv, thereby incurring significant expenses to broadcast the event live. The logistics involved in transporting live broadcast equipment and personnel to Ikot Ekpene would have incurred additional expenses, further exacerbating the overall cost of the retreat. This ostentatious display raises serious questions about the commission’s priorities and its commitment to serving the people of the…
The issue of observance of climate change is fast moving from mere ethical considerations to that which can cost heavy financial liabilities not only on companies but also personally on the directors of the company. A rising list of cases all over the world are making giant strides in major efforts to make company directors personally liable for failure to comply with basic company law fiduciary duties and tort liabilities. Failure of the board of directors to consider environmental friendly initiatives, emission targets or country temperature targets is at the heart of these litigations. A number of these litigations have…
The issue of subpoened witness is not new to practising lawyers. The arguement for and against the need to frontload witness statement on oath of subpoenaed witnesses in election matter is old and dates far back to 2010 Electoral Act (if not even beyond). Now, this issue had happened previously in many cases and the court of Appeals had contradictory judgements on this matter. For now there has been no express supreme Court decision on the matter to my knowledge. Going through 4(5)(a)(b)(c) of the first schedule of the recent electoral Act 2022, it stipulates the time frame for filing…
Nigeria Economic Re-Invention: An Urgent Need for Unconventional Measures Introduction: The recent application of shock therapies in the Nigeria economy has resulted in severe hardships for its citizens revealing the limitations of prevailing economic policies. It has become quite evident that the conventional economic policies, often derived from popular economics textbook and journal-based strategies, are insufficient to address the nation’s complex economic challenges. To catalyze meaningful progress, Nigeria must embrace a radical departure from these conventional economic approaches and seek new, innovative policies that align with the country’s unique characteristics and needs. To save the Nigeria economy, a shift towards…
As a Legal Practitioner, I have done a number of divorce cases, and it is not true that the Court always award custody to the father. It is not true. Child custody disputes is very sensitive and emotionally charged, and especially based on the fact that the outcome can have a significant impact on the lives of both the parents and the child. Firstly, it is important to understand that in Nigeria, custody disputes are determined based on what is in the best interests of the child. The court will consider factors such as the child’s age, gender, health, and…
Opatola Victor Esq. adeopatola@gmail.com Artificial Intelligence is here, and the legal Industry needs to be prepared on how AI will affect the legal space. Technology has a way of sneaking up on you, gradually; then suddenly. Recently, I used Artificial Intelligence to draft a legal brief on complex tort law and law of contract issues, in order to test the efficacy and adaptability of Artificial Intelligence to writing Court briefs in Nigeria; especially to see how well it can cite Nigerian case laws and authorities. I imputed the following command: “With Nigeria case laws, write a court brief on airline…
Opatola Victor Esq A WhatsApp message is currently making rounds on the invalidity of any document or property bought jointly by husband and wife; a number of people have reached out to ask me of the fate of their Legal documents, agreements and properties bought jointly with their spouse as Mr and Mrs. You should know the following: 1. *Any document issued as Mr. and Mrs Opatola is never invalid.* 2. *It can never be invalid* 3. *No Court held that such document is invalid* What the Court only said was you cannot sue as Mr. and Mrs Opatola. For…
Since 2020 Lebanon has been embroiled in continuous pull and push attempts to audit the Country’s Central Bank Account. The main tussle has been the fear that once the audit is made the whole country will know the level of corruption in Government through the Central Bank, so serious was this fear that the Country’s Government withheld some documents from the Auditors and also gave partial documents citing the law of secrecy of the Country. Till today, Lebanon is still enmeshed in this quagmire. Same thing goes for Mozambique when it audited it’s central bank. Probably, this has been the…
Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a statement that it has concluded plans to redesign the Naira. The CBN Governor cited money hoarding and counterfeiting as a major reason for it’s decision. This initiative is laudable, but we need to put the apex bank’s claim through a rigourous scrutiny. Especially, judging from the history of the sort of economic policies adopted by the CBN in recent years, the economic impact of which has deepened Nigeria’s financial woes. It’s agreeable that redesigning currencies curb counterfeiting. It is also agreeable that redesigning and printing of new currencies will cost billions of…
Recently, there has been various bodies conducting private pre-election polls in Nigeria ahead of 2023 election. These polls are majorly to adjudge the chances of each candidate ahead of the election. I believe the public should interrogate these polls and their figures more deeply. Do they reflect popularity alone or possible poll victory? It is true that polls such as these influences voters and create a bandwagon effect, then who are those sponsoring these polls, what are their objective? The Bloomberg poll for instance has about 3000 respondents. These respondents were not necessarily proven to be drawn from the voter’s…
Big money is pervading the Nigeria Electoral system at an unprecedented pace. Dark money is fighting for the soul of our Electoral system in a bid to influence the will of the people and hijack this democracy, the dangers are innumerable. This article argues the following five points: There is no regulation mandating Candidates to disclose funds or assets donated to them and the sources. INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) has the power to direct Candidates and their campaign organizations to disclose information on amount donated to them and the sources. INEC SHOULD ISSUE A CIRCULAR DIRECTIVE TO THIS EFFECT,…
Today, I was invited as a guest at The Electoral Forum’s Dialogue on “Addressing Vote Trading in Nigeria”. In making my intervention to the discussion, I made two radical argument and solutions to Vote Trading. 1. Candidates have no power to canvass for votes under the Law. So section section 88(2) – (8) of Electoral Act is an anomaly, for the purpose of candidate campaign. A major way to curb vote buying is to ensure that there is an effective audit by INEC on Electoral spending. Section 225 and 226 of 1999 Constitution ensures that expenses of political party should…
The first rule in Legal matter, especially criminal matter, is to stop talking. You will achieve very little or nothing by talking, even if you say the right things it will only help you on Social media and not the Court; because once the case starts the statement made during such period MAY not be admissible in your favour but MAY be admissible against you. (See Section 83(3) Evidence Act on Statements made in anticipation or pending a Court Action) It is common sense that when you are in a hole and wants to get out, then you stop digging.…
The fact that APC lost Osun has more to do about the APC Gubernatorial candidate, the PDP Governor elect and the believe and perception of the Osun people about these candidates than it has to do with Tinubu personally. The previous election and the margin between the two parties shows a tragectory that Adeleke is loved as a person in Osun State. Oyetola in that previous election nearly lost to Adeleke if not for miraculous almighty formula of inconclusive election, yet Tinubu’s Presidential candidature or Muslim Muslim ticket was not in the picture then. The loss has nothing or bare…
Opatola Victor, Esq. 07069687425 I was at Court of Appeals recently for a matter, a separate matter was heard before mine. The matter was about a wife claiming 2 million Naira for husband’s adultery. She sue’s both the husband and the lady he committed adultery with. The trial Court held in her favour. The husband married the wife(Mrs A) under the Act. The husband after a few years abandoned the wife and impregnated another lady (Lady B). The child born out of wedlock (by Lady B) bears the man’s name and the man lives with lady B. The wife(…
-Opatola Victor Esq. Recently, the Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr.Umahi was sacked by the Judgement of the Federal High Court for defecting from PDP to APC. This judgement has led to a lot of arguments as to whether or not the Supreme Court in the Cases of CPC v OMBUGADU and OZOMGBACHI v. DENNIS AMADI & Ors held that votes belongs to the candidates not the party. After a careful perusal of the cases, it becomes obvious that nowhere did the Court mention or infer that votes belongs to the candidates and not the party in an election. Below are…
The only two things you should take away from this article Privacy Policy is a Legal requirement for websites, Apps and any medium that collects user data. Having a well suited and properly drafted Privacy Policy by your Lawyer, for your website and Mobile App is to your protection and advantage. Data is gold, but there are Laws regulating the collection, processing, use, transfer and deletion of customer data in Nigeria. Your Website, Mobile Application or online personal service is under an obligation to protect personal data in any incidence of processing of such data. So any how you cut…
Shares are of serious consequences when it comes to investment, ownership and control of a company. They are of monetary value too. All companies in Nigeria have a minimum share capital of 1 million, which can be subsequently increased as the need arises. So how do shares really work in a start-up? Assuming Mr. A and Mr. B founded a Tech company Called AbujaMoney. Assuming both of them decided to allot 50% of the company total shares to each other, meaning that they both have 500 thousand each of the company shares, totalling the company’s million shares. So Mr. A…
In the midst of our National prayers for the repose of the souls of the lives lost in the Ikoyi building collapse, I came across Professor Kperoogi’s Article on bigotry against Yoruba Muslims by their fellow Southwest Christians, on account of their faith. Reading his article, I believe he ran into some misconstrued conjectures. The article presupposes that non-muslim Yorubas are well to do and better off in the echelon of things compared to muslim Yorubas; so much so that this notion dictates his perceived opinion on “inferiorization” of Yoruba Muslims. Yoruba Muslims are not inferior in the Southwest and…
Introduction Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) owes a high duty of care to each and every holder of the E-Wallet account and has a fiduciary duty to all such account holders; and can be held liable for Negligence irrespective of any terms and conditions in the E-Wallet App or website. By Law, Central Bank of Nigeria is the Apex Bank and regulatory body for all banks in Nigeria. Previously, the CBN is only directly liable to banks and few other entities in regards to the direct management of customer funds, but upon the the introduction of E-Naira, through E- Naira wallet…
1. It is a mere Holding Company 2. Before the change of name to Meta, Facebook was the name of the holding company; and as a name it was of two different entities. a). Facebook as a subsidiary just like Instagram and WhatsApp e.t.c; and b). Facebook as a holding Company. 3. What is a holding Company? It is a company created to buy and own the shares of other companies, which it then controls. The companies that the holding company acquires is called Subsidiaries. Advantages of a Holding Company 1. reducing legal and financial risks; 2. It provides…
The recent judgement by Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam in the matter between Rivers State Government V. Federal Inland Revenue and the Attorney General of Federation has generated heated comments in many quarters. A lot of persons has commented and picked sides on the issue without benefit of the arguments canvassed by the parties and reading the judgment and reason of the Court. One thing is certain, the issues canvassed in the matter goes beyond the implication of the popular issue of who is entitled to VAT and who is entitled to collect VAT, to which body can collect (not…
