Confirmed Speakers
- Home
- Confirmed Speakers
Opening Ceremony
Nwamara Inegbenoise
Nwamara Inegbenoise
Nwamara Inegbenoise is Deputy Director, Arbitration & ADR – Africa at ICC Dispute Resolution Services (ICC DRS), Paris, France.
She leads ICC DRS’s strategy, development and engagement across Africa, working with key public and private-sector stakeholders to strengthen the use of ICC dispute resolution services and deepen ICC’s presence across the continent. Her work focuses on advancing international arbitration and ADR and strengthening dispute resolution frameworks and practice across African markets.
Nwamara brings over 18 years of multidisciplinary professional experience across legal practice, corporate advisory, dispute resolution and institutional development. Before joining ICC DRS, she was Principal Consultant at NOISE & BLUE in Nigeria, where her practice focused on arbitration, mediation, dispute resolution strategy, and the development of ADR frameworks and institutions. She previously served as an ICC Young Arbitration and ADR Forum (ICC YAAF) Regional Representative for Africa, contributing to regional engagement and the development of young arbitration and ADR practitioners.
Nwamara is a Nigerian-qualified lawyer. She holds an LL.M from Rivers State University, Nigeria, and the CIArb Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration (Oxford Diploma). She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, and a CEDR Accredited Mediator.
Prof. Oba Nsugbe, SAN
Prof. Oba Nsugbe, SAN
DAY 1 PANEL 1
Users perspective: Realities of choosing African countries as a seat for resolving intra-African
Miannaya Essien, SAN
HON. WILFRED DANOLA IKATARI
HON. WILFRED DANOLA IKATARI
HON. WILFRED DANOLA IKATARI possesses multi- disciplinary knowledge and skills in the fields of Education, Agriculture, Applied Economics, Law, Public Administration and Arbitration.
Currently the Director/Chief Executive of the Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, Lagos-Nigeria, He earlier practiced Law in the firm of Messrs EGELE and EGELE, Attorneys – at -Law and Arbitrators, Daniel Chambers (founded by Late Chief Francis Forum Egele, SAN, FCArb) with practice focused on commercial, Property, oil and gas, criminal, Banking and capital market.
The late former President, Umaru Musa Yar’adua, GCFR, appointed him Honourable Member (Judge) of the Investment and Securities Tribunal of Nigeria, where he chaired the Tribunal Panels, making remarkable judicial contributions to the Capital Market jurisprudence and the administration of the Tribunal.
He is a Fellow of the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) of Nigeria, Africa Business Club, Centre for Public Service Productivity and Development and Distinguished Fellow of the African Institute of Public Administration and is a Member, Working Group II & III, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Hon. Ikatari has featured in national and international conferences in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe as Participant, Panellist, Moderator, Speaker, Presenter and Intervener in UNCITRAL conferences since 2014 to date.
He played prominent roles in Nigeria’s national Arbitration Policy development, engagement with Singapore Convention on Mediation (United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreement resulting from Mediation (New York 2018) and legislative processes culminating in the Arbitration and Mediation Act (AMA 2023) enactment.
PROF. ‘WALE OLAWOYIN SAN
PROF. ‘WALE OLAWOYIN SAN
PROF. ‘WALE OLAWOYIN SAN HAS PRACTICED LAW FOR OVER THREE AND A HALF DECADES AND HAS BEEN TEACHING LAW FOR ABOUT 27 YEARS IN THE FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS. HIS MAJOR AREA OF SPECIALIZATION IS COMPANY LAW, ARBITRATION AND ADMIRALTY LAW. HE ALSO HAS SPECIFIC INTEREST IN CORPORATE MANAGEMENT, SECURED CREDIT TRANSACTIONS AND GOVERNANCE ISSUES. HE IS ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED RESEARCHER WITH PUBLISHED WORKS IN INTERNATIONAL SERIALS SUCH AS THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION, INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION LAW REVIEW, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARBITRATION, MEDIATION AND DISPUTE MANAGEMENT, JOURNAL OF AFRICAN LAW, THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BANKING AND THE JOURNAL OF MARITIME LAW AND COMMERCE, ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF COMPANY LAW, CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA AND ARBITRATION. HE HAS ACTED AS ARBITRATOR IN A NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATIONS ADMINISTERED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (ICC) AND THE PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION (PCA) AND SEVERAL AD-HOC DOMESTIC ARBITRATIONS IN NIGERIA. HE WAS ELEVATED TO THE RANK OF SENIOR ADVOCATE OF NIGERIA IN 2014 AND IS A FELLOW OF BOTH THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF ARBITRATORS (UK) AND THE INSTITUTE OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ARBITRATORS. HE IS CURRENTLY THE PRESIDENT OF THE LAGOS COURT OF ARBITRATION.
Prof. Kenneth Wyne Mutuma
Prof. Kenneth Wyne Mutuma
Prof. Kenneth Wyne Mutuma is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and the Managing Partner at the firm of Wyne and Associates. Prof. holds several academic qualifications, including a Doctorate and Masters in Law from the University of Cape Town as well as a law undergraduate degree from the University of Liverpool. He is also a qualified Architect having graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Nairobi.
He possesses extensive leadership experience and expertise in governance practice, ADR, and international law. His practice spans a wide range of areas, including commercial law, commercial arbitration, construction adjudication, mediation, litigation, conveyancing, corporate governance, refugee law, human rights law, and employment law.
Prof. Wyne is also a Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators as well as a Certified Professional Mediator. He is an active member and current Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya), the Law Society of Kenya, the East African Law Society, the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Lusaka International Arbitration Centre (LIAC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA), the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the Dispute Resolution Panel of Architecture Association of Kenya, the Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC), the Dispute Resolution Panel of the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK), and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). He has a comprehensive understanding of ADR procedures having acted as arbitrator and adjudicator in a wide range of commercial and construction disputes. Prof. is the current Chair of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Kenya) Branch.
In addition to his responsibilities within the Firm, Prof. Wyne finds fulfilment empowering upcoming students of law through his work as an academic with several universities including the University of Nairobi where he is currently a Senior Lecturer of Law teaching, inter alia, ADR, corporate governance, public international law, international relations, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. He is also an Associate Professor at Mount Kenya University where he teaches Public Law.
Prof. has also contributed service to the wider society in various capacities, including as: the Chairperson of the National Examinations Appeals Tribunal; the National Representative to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA); as a member of the Council to the Foreign Service Academy; Member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Advocates Disciplinary Tribunal; the immediate former Chairperson of the Cricket Kenya Independent Election Panel.
Prof. Wyne is an avid researcher and writer and possesses accumulated experience and academic leadership in international law, ADR and corporate governance. He has published extensively and has authored several volumes on International Law, ADR and corporate governance
JUSTICE LEMEA NGBOR, FIDRI, MCIARB (UK)
JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT OF RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA
JUSTICE LEMEA NGBOR, FIDRI, MCIARB (UK)
Hon. Justice Lemea Ngbor, FIDRI, MCIArb (UK), is a Judge of the High Court of Rivers State, Nigeria, where she serves as the Presiding Judge of the Okrika Division, a designated ADR Judge and a member of the Governing Council of the Rivers State Multidoor Court House. She holds an LLB (Second Class Upper) from Rivers State University and a BL (Second Class Upper) from the Nigerian Law School. Justice Ngbor possesses a strong arbitration background, having practiced under Prof. Fidelis Oditah, KC, SAN, where she gained extensive experience in International and Domestic Arbitration and Commercial Dispute Resolution. She later joined Sterling Partnership Legal Practitioners (now Primera Africa Legal), leading its Dispute Resolution team for about a decade before her elevation to the bench in January 2020. In that role, she acted for multinational corporations, state parties, and domestic clients, providing both contentious and non-contentious arbitration advice and representation.
She is a Fellow of the International Dispute Resolution Institute (IDRI), a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK (MCIArb), and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Mediators & Conciliators (ICMC). Justice Ngbor has also has received multiple advanced trainings in Arbitration and ADR from internationally recognized institutions and domestic bodies, which she actively applies in her judicial role as an ADR Judge to promote efficient case management and administration of justice. Outside the bench, she enjoys watching football (especially the EPL) and listening to good music.
DAY 1 PANEL 2
The African Energy Sector: Managing PSC-JV-Energy Transition Disputes Through Arbitration and ADR
Dr. Chinedu Idike
General Manager, Legal, Exploration & Production, Seplat Energy Plc.
Dr. Chinedu Idike
General Manager, Legal, Exploration & Production, Seplat Energy Plc.
Dr. Chinedu Idike has over 27 years experience in the legal industry covering external legal services and in-house legal work experience. He is currently the General Manager, Legal, Exploration & Production, Seplat Energy Plc, Nigeria’s leading indigenous oil and gas business where he provides legal support on a wide range of oil and gas business, a broad spectrum of exploration and production base of Seplat’s business for both offshore and onshore business operations and delivers general business advisory and strategic legal support to senior management. Though a lawyer, Dr. Idike has a tremendous business mindset providing business solutions in the midst of complex legal challenges.
Prior to his Seplat role, Dr. Idike was the General Counsel & Company Secretary of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN), former subsidiary of ExxonMobil Nigeria, upon its acquisition by Seplat. In his 15 years of work experience with ExxonMobil, he was the company’s legal expert and go-to-person on Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) legal compliance, gas sales contracting, gas flare governance and mitigation and international treaties governance. Dr Idike led the legal aspects of the negotiation team for the groundbreaking dispute settlement of the multifaceted claims and counterclaims between the FGN/NNPC and Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) contractors and for the renewal of the PSCs and leases that paved way for a new wave of deepwater operations investment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Dr. Idike, a member of the OPTS Legal Subcommittee and its co-chair in 2024, is a strong legal voice and part of the OPTS think tank and legal support group that have been assisting the OPTS in interpreting complex provisions of the PIA, helping the regulators with legal updates on draft regulations prior to their issuance and developing the law in critical areas to provide clarity and certainty.
Dr. Idike’s academic background traverses several continents. He graduated from the University of Calabar, Nigeria, winning several academic prizes and also the Nigerian Law School where he graduated with several academic prizes including the Best Overall Performance Award (2nd Prize). In 2002, he was awarded a prestigious Canadian scholarship for a Masters in law program in Dalhousie Law School, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, which he completed in 2003, and was also awarded a Canadian scholarship for a doctoral program in law at the reputable Canadian law school, the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Toronto, Canada, where he completed his PhD in law in 2006.
Dr. Idike is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association. He was also called to the Bar in Ontario Canada and, while in Canada, he was a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Ontario Bar Association. Dr. Idike worked with the multinational law firm of Stikeman Elliott LLP, headquartered in Canada before returning to Nigeria in 2009 to join ExxonMobil from where he transitioned to Seplat Energy Plc upon MPN’s acquisition by Seplat.
DAY 1 PANEL 3
Arbitrating Disputes in FX Controls, Capital Mobility, and Sovereign Power
Agada Elachi, SAN
Agada Elachi, SAN
Agada Elachi is a practicing lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He holds a doctorate degree in Public Policy and Administration specializing in Terrorism, Mediation and Peace (Walden, U.S.A). He also holds a Masters Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies (M.A), and a Masters degree in Law (LL.M). He is a SEC certified capital market operator and, is actively engaged in investment advising and commercial law practice. He has vast experience in litigating cases before all levels of court in Nigeria.
Agada is an ADR expert with a bias for mediation and arbitration. He holds the fellowship of several professional bodies including the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC, Nigeria), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP). He also holds a diploma in International Commercial Arbitration.
As mediator, he has been engaged in the resolution of a broad range of disputes such as banking and financial matters, inheritance and testamentary issues, labour matters, and family mediation just to mention a few.
As arbitrator, he is experienced in handling a wide range of issues including but not limited to defence contracts, power/energy contracts, construction contracts, oil and gas, environment preservation and management contracts, financial matters, transport management contracts, and real estate development matters.
He is on the panel of Panel of Neutrals of several organizations. Some of these are: Global Mediation (UK), Kigali International Arbitration Centre, Nigerian Chamber of Commerce Dispute Resolution Centre, Nigerian Communications Commission, Federal High Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre, Abuja Multi-Door Courthouse, Kaduna Multi-door Courthouse, and several multi-door courthouses. He is a member of the Governing Council of the Edo State Multi-Door Courthouse
He is a member of the permanent court of the Geneva International Dispute Resolution Institute (GIDI).
He acts as a resource person and consults from time to time for several organizations on Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice.
Agada has keen interest in professional development and networking and as such is a member of several professional bodies including Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution, African Mediation Association, and the African Arbitration Association. He has served in different capacities within and without the professional circle.
Agada loves to read and write. He is an avid lover of sports and a member of the IBB Golf and Country Club, Abuja amongst others. He is married to Rosemary, and they have four lovely children.
Aisha Ado Abdullahi
Edem Ekeng