Chief (Mrs.) A. J. Offiah, SAN

Chief (Mrs.) A. J. Offiah, SAN is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and the founder and senior partner of Obra Legal (formerly A. J. Offiah & Co.). She is a legal luminary with over 48 years of post‑call experience, widely regarded as the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria from the South‑East region. She specialises in arbitration and mediation, litigation, election petitions, and commercial law, and has played a pivotal role in shaping Nigeria's legal landscape through her advocacy and leadership in judicial reform.

She has extensive experience in all levels of Nigerian courts, including the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Courts, Electoral Tribunals, and Arbitral Tribunals, handling complex commercial, civil, criminal, electoral, and matrimonial disputes. She is an experienced arbitrator and mediator, and has chaired numerous professional and judicial committees, including the Enugu State Justice Reform Team, the NBA Disciplinary Committee (South East Zone), the Enugu State Committee for Revision of Sectoral Laws, and the Drafting Committee of the Enugu State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2017. She has also served as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Enugu State (1994‑1997), and as Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Enugu Branch. She has represented Nigeria at United Nations conferences on women's rights and professional forums, and serves on the governing council of Niger Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Enugu.

Chief (Mrs.) Offiah holds an LL.B (Hons) from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (1977) and a B.L. from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos (1978). She was called to the Nigerian Bar on 8 July 1978 and enrolled as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on 9 July 1978. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (former Branch Chairman), the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), the International Bar Association (IBA), and served as Nigerian representative on the Coordinating Committee of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA).