Team size: Over 50

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In 2023, I led a team of lawyers in the provision of legal support and review of documentation for the organisation in the arrangement of a first of its kind West African ₦300bn additional tier 1 capital bond issuance programme, which has so far raised more than the sum of ₦46bn in its series 2 offering.

In addition to the above, my team and I assisted the organisation in obtaining a favourable judgment over a very controversial suit that had been initiated in the UK. The organisation was at the risk of paying out an award of more than $25m, but this award was successfully appealed and overturned at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in the UK with the other party now owing the organisation approximately $6.3m.

Generally, the organisation has in the past one year achieved significant growth and the legal department and company secretariat units, which I lead, played a significant support role in helping the organisation achieve many accolades, some of which include; a 29% year on year operating expense growth, a 130% year on year profit before tax growth, and the acquisition of over 130,000 additional customers among others.

How much influence do you, as a general counsel, have on the diversity and inclusion policies of your organisation?

As the general counsel members of my team and I are compulsory members in the committee for policy creation and review. I have also ensured that the organisation has a process in place which requires that all policies either at inception or review pass through a thorough legal review before being passed.

During this review process, my team and I undertake a legal review and depending on the legal implications, the policies can be amended, conditioned or cancelled outright. This also helps ensure there is a good representation of diversity.

How does the in-house legal function contribute to the overall dispute resolution strategy of the organisation?

All our in-house lawyers have a specific mandate to reasonably engage stakeholders with a view of resolving disputes before they devolve to full trials. The counsel has, over the years, gained the requisite experience necessary to analyse and determine the strategies to adopt in amicably resolving disputes between the organisation and its customers. In addition, the in-house legal functions contribute by adopting mediation and other alternative dispute resolution strategies and ensuring that agreements the organisation enter have the relevant dispute resolution clauses that depict the organisation’s strategy.