FESTUS ONYIA

PARTNER

Festus Onyia is a Partner in the firm’s dispute resolution practice and specialises in civil, corporate and commercial litigation, as well as international commercial arbitration. His other practice areas include labour, employment and industrial relations, and tax litigation. He has trained as an international commercial arbitrator with several Nigerian and international arbitration institutions, including the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, where he attended the Advanced PIDA Training in International Commercial Arbitration.

Festus has acted as counsel in both ad hoc and institutional arbitrations, including under the Rules of Arbitration of the ICC. He has advised on issues of Nigerian law for determination in matters before foreign courts and arbitration tribunals. He has extensive hands-on experience in arbitration, litigation and transactions, and recently represented a client at the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a claim for compensation and damages in excess of $700 million for alleged oil spillage and gas flaring.

In addition, he has represented several international drilling companies in tax disputes at the Tax Appeal Tribunal, Federal High Court, and Court of Appeal in respect of a dispute arising from additional tax assessments in the sum of $40 million (approximately) and involving the issue of whether recharges to their Nigerian support companies and/ or subsidiaries are allowable deductions from their turnovers for the purposes of computation of tax under the Companies Income Tax Act (CITA).

Festus is recognized by the Legal 500 for his experience with high value commercial arbitrations. He was a member of the International Task Force appointed by the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR on the Revision of the ICC Rules as Appointing Authority in UNCITRAL and other Ad Hoc Proceedings. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Nigerian Tax Law Report, and was in April 2019 appointed as the Alternate Chairman of the Energy and Power Committee of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators for a two-year term.

Festus is a thought leader in his core practice areas, with articles published in multiple issues of reputable international journals such as The European, Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review; The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review; International Financial Law Review Dispute Resolution Guide; Chambers International Arbitration Country Practice Guide; Dealmakers Africa; The Gravitas Review of Business and Property Law, and Nigerian Tax Law Review.

CAREER
2017Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
2014Managing Associate, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
2008Senior Associate, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
2005Associate, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
2005Associate, Ahaneku, Ekwekwuo & Partners
2003Associate, G.E. Ezeuko (SAN) & Co
2002Legal Officer, National Assembly
QUALIFICATIONS
2002Nigerian Law School, BL
1999University of Benin, Benin City, LL.B.
BAR ADMISSIONS
2002Nigeria
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
Nigerian Bar Association
International Bar Association
Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria
Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom
 

Nigerian Chapter of the 20th Edition of the International Comparative Legal Guides – International Arbitration 2023

September 25, 2023

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Lexology GTDT Market Intelligence – Dispute Resolution 2023 – Nigeria

June 19, 2023

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Nigerian chapter to the 2023 edition of The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review

May 3, 2023

Uzoma Azikiwe, SAN (Partner), Festus Onyia (Partner), and Michael Ugah (Senior Associate) of the firm’s dispute resolution team have contributed the Nigerian chapter to the 2023 edition of The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review. The publication is now live; to read it, click here: https://lnkd.in/dtxzWAiH. The publication discusses topical issues relating to arbitration, such as whether: (a) an admitted […]

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The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (GAR)

July 14, 2022

Uzoma Azikiwe, SAN (Partner), Festus Onyia (Partner), and Michael Ugah (Associate) of the firm’s dispute resolution team, have contributed the Nigerian chapter to the 2022 edition of The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (GAR). The publication is now live; to read it, please click here: https://globalarbitrationreview.com/review/the-middle-eastern-and-african-arbitration-review/2022/article/nigeria. The publication addresses topical issues such as whether […]

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Innovations in corporate insolvency in Nigeria under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 –Insolvency Practitioners

June 23, 2022

 

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Tax disputes in Nigeria: the tax appeal tribunal rules that the federal inland revenue service must always prove why the payment of security deposit is required from a taxpayer.

June 3, 2022

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A Party Seeking To Enforce An Arbitral Award In Nigeria Does Not Need To Comply With The Pre-Action Protocol Required Under The High Court Of Lagos State

May 5, 2022

UUBO’s Dispute Resolution team is pleased to share its most recent publication authored by Uzoma Azikiwe, SAN (Partner), Festus Onyia FCIArb, UK (Partner) and Michael Ugah (Associate), which discusses the recent decision of the High Court of Lagos State where the High Court ruled that a party seeking to enforce an arbitral award under the Nigerian Arbitration and Conciliation Act […]

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The Legal Basis For The Award Of Delayed Payment Or Pre-judgment Interest In Debt Recovery Claims In Nigeria

August 18, 2021

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UUBO contributes to the 2018 edition of The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review

August 27, 2018

Uzoma Azikiwe (Partner) and Festus Onyia (Partner), of the firm’s dispute resolution team, have contributed the Nigerian chapter, titled ‘Arbitrability of Tax Disputes Under Nigerian Law’, to the 2018 edition of The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review (GAR). The publication is now live; to read it, click here.  

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UUBO Advises Seplat Energy Plc on its Acquisition of Exxon Mobil’s Offshore Shallow Water Business in Nigeria

February 25, 2022

We are delighted to have advised Seplat Energy Plc on this landmark transaction. The...

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