Career Biography

Michael Osilama Otu is the Company Secretary/General Counsel of Zenith Bank Plc. He joined the bank on July 14, 1997 and became the Company Secretary/Head, Legal Services in February, 2002. He graduated Second Class Honours (Upper Division) in Law in 1992 from the Bendel (Edo) State now Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, and attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos State between 1992 and 1993. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1993 graduating with Second Class Honours (Upper Division). He obtained a Master’s Degree in Law (LL.M) from the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos State in 1996. While at the University and the Nigerian Law School, he won several awards including – the Best Graduating student in Banking, Insurance and Negotiable Instruments, Sir. Darnley Alexander’s Prize for Best Student in Legal Drafting and Conveyancing, Chief Ernest Shonekan’s Prize for Best Student in Legal Drafting and Conveyancing & Chief F.R.A. Williams Prize for Best Student in Legal Drafting and Conveyancing. His professional Banking Industry and Legal practice experience spans over 30 years beginning in 1993 when he was employed as a Legal Officer in Crystal Bank of Africa Limited (now UBA Plc) and as a General Legal Counsel and later became Deputy Head of Chambers in Vincent Omegba & Co. (Legal Practitioners), before joining Zenith Bank Plc, a first rate bank in Nigeria. Michael is a member of various professional bodies including the Nigeria Bar Association (N.B.A), Nigerian Society of International Law and the International Bar Association. Honorary Senior member, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB). Member, Nigerian Society for Corporate Governance; and Member, Institute of Compliance Administration (ICA) UK. Associate Member, Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN); Fellow, Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR) of Nigeria. He is a Member, Institute of Directors, Nigeria (M.IOD) and certified by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to practice as a Compliance Officer. He has at various times been a Resource Person for both the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). Michael is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of Nigeria (FCIArb). His areas of expertise spans, Legal aspect of banking operations, Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC), Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and mentoring. In the course of his professional banking Industry and legal practice experience, Michael has led the legal team on multiple banking and finance transactions such as advising the Bank in preparing the requisite agreements and obtaining regulatory approvals with respect to such transactions including the recent partnership with The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, to develop a Smart AfCFTA, a digital platform designed to facilitate international trade by providing information and tools to the African private and public sectors. This ensured that Zenith is the first institution to have entered into this innovative relationship with the AfCFTA. Furthermore, Michael has advised on multiple transactions such as a $2bn Syndicated Term Loan facility in the telecom sector, N1bn Eurobond Issue, listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, and a EUR30m Multi-Sourcing General Purpose Line of Credit for a blue chip company where he supervised the internal review of all facility agreements between the bank and the other parties . Michael led the legal team on the due diligence and legal documentation for the recently concluded regulatory required capital raising to support the bank’s expansion which was hugely successful. He also supervised the legal documentation and due diligence for the bank’s recent IT infrastructure migration to Oracle’s Flexcube. Michael has attended several professional programmes including the Lagos Business School, Euromoney United Kingdom, Euromoney Singapore, Insead Business School, Fontainebleau, France, and the Harvard Business School, Boston.