Afolabi Elebiju
Afolabi Elebiju is a versatile business lawyer with cutting edge transaction structuring expertise.
He is Principal at LeLaw (www.lelawlegal.com), a niche commercial law firm specializing in transaction structuring and advisory services.
He was most recently General Counsel at African Capital Alliance (ACA), Nigeria’s premier private equity firm focusing on the Gulf of Guinea (2013 – 2014), where he was a member of the ExCo.
Afolabi has over two decades of business advisory, corporate/commercial law experience with leading professional services firms: Olaniwun Ajayi LP (1995 – 97), Andersen/KPMG (1998 -2006) and Templars (2007 – 2013), working for global market leaders, blue chip Nigerian corporates and HNIs, the public sector and international agencies on big ticket, cross-border deals.
He obtained his degrees from Obafemi Awolowo University (B.A (1987), LLB (1994)); University of Lagos (LLM Corporate/Commercial Law, 1997); and Harvard Law School (LLM International Finance, 2007).
His experience also includes civil and commercial litigation at trial and appellate courts, investment disputes arbitration and tax litigation.
He was Partner, tax and regulatory team leader at Templars where he also supported the Corporate & Commercial, Finance, Energy & Projects and Dispute Resolution Groups. Prior to that, he was Senior Manager, Tax & Regulatory Services at KPMG.
His 8 year experience at KPMG included offshore secondment to Dundas & Wilson (Scottish member firm of Andersen Legal) working with their Infrastructure Group for diverse clients.
Afolabi’s book, Promoting Country Competitiveness Through Sectoral Reforms: Case Study of Nigerian Telecommunications Sector, 1999 – 2006, (MentorHouse 2014) is dedicated to “those who took a bet on Nigeria, and despite all, are staying true to their bets.” One of Afolabi’s seminal articles.
An accomplished presenter, Afolabi regularly speaks at professional, academic and mentoring fora. He has authored/co-authored several publications on diverse areas of commercial law in prestigious journals, including Nigerian chapters to leading international treatises.
A columnist since 2009, he writes the widely read Taxspectives column for ThisDay Lawyer, legal section of This Day Newspaper.
Afolabi has many professional affiliations, including fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (FCTI). He is currently Vice-Dean of the Indirect Tax Faculty of the CITN, where he supports the Faculty’s discourse on topical tax issues.
Afolabi has been advising Boards, and provided company secretarial services to reputable multinationals and leading corporates all through his legal career. He is currently a Director of Fin Insurance Company Limited and Union Insurance Brokers Limited.
He is also a Partner at MentorHouse Publishing, and consults for several Nigerian law firms on their business strategy as well as on complex fiscal issues.
One of Afolabi’s recent presentations was on Disclosure Requirements under the Corporate Governance Codes at a Board retreat for a downstream company.
