Idornigie, Onyema, Maikyau and Roberts Appointed into Permanent Court of Arbitration

Steve Aya

Four eminent Nigerian Lawyers, have been appointed into the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The Permanent Court of Arbitration, established by treaty in 1899, is an intergovernmental organisation providing a variety of dispute resolution services to the international community. 

The four include Professor Paul Idornigie, SAN. He was former Acting Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, presently Professor of Commercial Law at Veritas University, Abuja. He holds a doctorate degree in International Commercial Arbitration. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (London); Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK); Chartered Arbitrator and member of several professional bodies/institutions including London Court of International Arbitration, African Arbitration Association, Lagos Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, Lagos Court of Arbitration and many others.  

Professor Emilia Onyema is an independent Arbitrator with experience as presiding, co and sole Arbitrator, and acts as a legal expert witness in international arbitration. She is a Professor of International Commercial Law at SOAS, University of London, where she teaches and publishes on international commercial arbitration, international investment law and commercial law in a global context. She is qualified to practice law in Nigeria, a Solicitor of England & Wales, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is listed on several Arbitrator Panels.   

Yakubu Maikyau, OON, SAN is the immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators.  

Mrs Funmi Roberts, a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and founder of one of the largest female-owned law firms in Nigeria, is a Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and Member of the Global Panel of Mediators of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). She serves as African Regional Mediator for the World Bank Group, and is on the Global Panel of the United Nations Development Programme Ombudsman. She is a member of ICC International Court of Arbitration (1st July, 2024 to date) and the ICC Arbitration and ADR Commission. Mrs Roberts was the Chairman of the National Committee on the Repeal and Re-enactment of Nigeria’s Arbitration and-Mediation Act, 2023.