Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN (OON)

Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, OON, SAN, LLD, FCIArb is the Senior Partner of Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL) and Head of the Arbitration and ADR practice group. With nearly five decades of distinguished practice, he commands exceptional authority across constitutional law, human rights, maritime governance, energy policy, complex litigation, arbitration, legal policy, environmental justice, and space law. He is widely recognised as a pioneer in Nigerian dispute resolution and one of Africa's foremost maritime lawyers.

He has played a pivotal role in some of Nigeria's most consequential cases, including the landmark CBN fraud case involving an ₦88 trillion transaction, the successful resolution of the largest debt judgment in Nigerian legal history (₦251 billion) in favour of a major financial institution, and the arrest of one of the largest vessels within Nigerian coastal waters. In constitutional and public interest litigation, he successfully challenged the arbitrary withdrawal of citizens' passports in Agbakoba v Director, State Security Services (1995), and successfully challenged a discriminatory government policy on admission into Federal Government Colleges in Olisa Agbakoba v Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Education (2013). He served as deputy lead defence counsel for Nigeria’s foremost environmental activist, Ken Saro‑Wiwa, and has been instrumental in landmark environmental justice litigation, including Gbemre v. Shell, establishing that gas flaring violates constitutional rights to life and dignity. He authored the foundational consultation paper for Nigeria's Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act and successfully argued in Seadrill Mobile Units Nigeria Limited v The Honourable Minister for Transportation that offshore drilling operations fall within 'coastal trade' under the Cabotage Act, shaping Nigeria's cabotage framework.

Dr. Agbakoba holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of Nigeria, a Barrister at Law Diploma (BL) from the Nigerian Law School, a Master of Laws (LLM) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Doctorate in Law (LLD) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was conferred Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in September 1998 and the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in December 2001. He is a Life Bencher of the Body of Benchers, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), and served as President of the Nigerian Bar Association (2006‑2008). He is the author of over 20 books and 500 journal articles, a recognised Mondaq Thought Leader, and has lectured at Harvard Law School, York University Toronto, and Carleton University Ottawa.

He is the visionary behind the OAL Arbitration & Mediation Centre, Nigeria's first law firm‑annexed ADR hub, and serves as counsel and arbitrator in high‑stakes disputes across maritime, aviation, energy, and telecommunications sectors. He is instrumental in establishing the Lagos Court of Arbitration, chairs the National Arbitration Policy Committee, and serves as senior arbitrator at the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and the African Law and Arbitration Association (AFLAA). He founded the Civil Liberties Organisation, Nigeria's first formal human rights organisation, and Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Nigeria's first environmental justice pressure group. He has advised three former Nigerian Presidents, the National Assembly, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).