Legal team size: 21
Major legal advisers/ external counsel: Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, G. Elias & Co. Olaniwun Ajayi LP, Aluko & Oyebode, Banwo & Ighodalo, Denton ACAS Law

Career biography
SESAN SOBOWALE, FCIT, FCIS

Sesan Sobowale is a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court with over 30 years of hands-on commercial legal, corporate relations, and senior business leadership experience spanning commercial legal practice, telecommunications, FMCG, and banking and financial services. He was at various times the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser and the Corporate Relations Director of Guinness Nigeria Plc. He was also a Non-Executive Director of Diageo Brands Nigeria Limited. Sesan is Head of Legal Services and General Counsel at Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) and an Associate Member of the Chartered Governance Institute of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sesan is a past chair of the Association of Banks’ Legal Advisers and Company Secretaries (ABLACS) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Directors, Nigeria.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

This requires having the right lawyers with the skill sets and experience to handle the complexities that come with a volatile environment and supporting them with the right tools to provide legal support to our business during and beyond such periods. It also demands new-to-world thinking in providing solutions in such an environment and seeing possibilities where others may not see a future.

In your opinion, what are the main trends affecting your work now (these can be legal, political, economic, or business-based)?

The increase in laws and regulations requiring compliance and new practices in areas not previously considered relevant to in-house counsel, along with the associated stringent civil (and sometimes criminal) liabilities for non-compliance. Additionally, there is an increasing willingness by courts and tribunals to extend legal principles beyond their previously understood limits to provide remedies for claimants, particularly in disputes with large corporations such as ours. The tendency to impose significant damages and awards in disputes against our institution is also an emerging trend affecting—and likely to continue affecting—our work as in-house counsel in banking and financial services.

What strategic priorities are guiding your legal team into 2025?

Establishing root cause analysis at pace to take preventive steps in limiting or mitigating losses to the corporation when issues arise. Controlling rising legal costs in an era of margin pressure and a focus on improving profitability in a high-inflation environment. Providing business-usable and prompt legal support to internal customers at a sensible cost. Lastly, focusing on talent strategy—attracting, developing, and retaining key employees—is a critical priority for 2025.