Balogun & Okafor LP
§ II · Practice

Six areas. Six benches of counsel.

Our practice is organised around the questions our clients actually bring — a cargo held at port, a licence in the balance, a title needing perfecting before a closing on Monday. Each area below is led by a partner and staffed for the substantive matter, not the department.

Area · Disputes
Led by K. Balogun, SAN

Dispute Resolution & ADR

We appear before the Federal and State High Courts, the Court of Appeal, and — where the record justifies it — the Supreme Court. Our arbitration practice sits under the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023 and takes matters seated in Lagos, London (LMAA, LCIA), Paris (ICC), and Singapore (SIAC). We prepare mediations at the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse and at the Lagos Court of Arbitration.

We are known for taking a file back to first principles when it lands — reading every filing to date, testing the pleadings against the underlying record, and telling you honestly what the matter is worth defending. Where settlement is the better outcome, we say so, and we know how to close it without leaving loose ends in the papers.

Representative matters

  • Commercial litigation before the Federal and State High Courts
  • International arbitration (ICC, LCIA, LMAA, SIAC seats)
  • Domestic arbitration and expert determination
  • Mediation at the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse
  • Enforcement of foreign judgments and awards
  • Interlocutory and Mareva injunctive relief
  • Regulatory and tax appeals
  • Constitutional and public-law challenges
Area · Maritime
Led by K. Balogun, SAN

Maritime

We advise ship-owners, charterers, P&I clubs, cargo interests, and terminal operators — informed by daily proximity to the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the Apapa and Tin Can Island terminals, and the Lagos anchorage. Our admiralty practice runs from urgent applications for ship arrest and release, through cargo and charterparty disputes, to the regulatory work that keeps operators cleared through NIMASA, NPA, and the Nigerian Customs Service.

Coastal trade sits under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, a regime with its own choreography of waivers and joint ventures; we know the file the regulator expects to see. On the wet side, we take instructions from underwriters and marine correspondents across London and Rotterdam.

Representative matters

  • Ship arrests and applications for release under bail or P&I letter
  • Cargo claims and bill-of-lading disputes
  • Charterparty drafting and demurrage disputes
  • Cabotage waivers, joint ventures, and compliance
  • NIMASA and NPA licensing and enforcement responses
  • Marine casualty investigations and pollution claims
  • Ship finance and mortgage registration
  • Port concession and terminal operations advisory
Area · Corporate
Led by C. Okafor

Corporate & Commercial

We advise founders, funds, and public-company directors through the transactions that define their companies — formations and restructurings under the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, mergers and acquisitions, private placements, and cross-border joint ventures. Our commercial contracts practice serves clients across manufacturing, technology, financial services, and infrastructure.

We prefer to draft the document that survives the disagreement it hopes to avoid. That means shareholder agreements with tested deadlock and exit mechanics; supply contracts with force-majeure and price-adjustment language that reads clearly when it matters; and M&A papers that anticipate the specific representations a Nigerian seller can, and cannot, credibly give.

Representative matters

  • Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures
  • Joint ventures and shareholder arrangements
  • Private placements and pre-IPO capital raises
  • Corporate restructuring and reorganisations
  • Corporate governance and board advisory
  • Commercial contracts and distribution arrangements
  • Franchise, licensing, and IP transactions
  • Company secretarial and CAC filings
Area · Regulatory
Led by A. Nwosu, SAN

Regulatory Compliance

Our regulatory practice runs across sectors and regulators. We hold recurring engagement with the SEC, CBN, NCC, NERC, NDPC, and the FCCPC, and we take instructions from clients navigating enforcement, licensing, or a change-in-control notification. We build compliance programmes — AML/CFT, sanctions, data protection, and sector-specific — that a regulator will accept and that operations can actually run against.

The Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 introduced obligations that most operators are still working through. We advise on data-protection impact assessments, cross-border transfer mechanisms, and the audit and filing obligations owed to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. Our sanctions practice covers OFAC, UK, and EU regimes as they intersect with Nigerian counterparties.

Representative matters

  • Licensing before SEC, CBN, NCC, NERC, and PenCom
  • NDPA compliance, DPIAs, and audit filings
  • AML/CFT programme design and independent review
  • Sanctions and export-control advisory
  • Enforcement responses and regulatory appeals
  • Change-of-control and shareholding notifications
  • Consumer-protection and antitrust matters (FCCPC)
  • Tax controversy and administrative appeals
Area · Energy
Led by C. Okafor

Energy & Natural Resources

The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 rewrote the ground rules for upstream and downstream operators, and much of the compliance work is still active. We advise licensees, service companies, and host-community development trusts on the licensing regime, the fiscal framework, and the community-engagement obligations that now sit at the centre of every operating asset.

On the power side, the Electricity Act 2023 opened generation, transmission, and distribution to state-level regulation. We advise developers, off-takers, and financiers on power purchase arrangements, mini-grid deployment, and the licensing that follows. Our natural-resources practice covers mining leases under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act and the community host agreements they now require.

Representative matters

  • PIA licensing and lease conversions
  • Host community development trusts and settlement plans
  • Farm-in, farm-out, and JOA arrangements
  • Power purchase agreements and off-take structures
  • Mini-grid and embedded-generation licensing
  • LNG and downstream infrastructure advisory
  • Mining leases and exploration licences
  • Project finance for energy assets
Area · Real Estate
Led by A. Nwosu, SAN

Real Estate

The Lekki corridor is the busiest arc of real-estate development in West Africa, and the file behind every closing is denser than it looks. We advise developers, financiers, and family landowners on Governor's Consent applications, title perfection under the Land Use Act, joint ventures with landowning families, off-plan sales structuring, and the disputes that follow when any of those go wrong.

We know which titles in Lagos read clean and which do not, and we know which family arrangements need to be reduced to writing before a bank will lend against them. Where a title needs perfecting, we run the file end-to-end, through the Lagos State Lands Bureau and, where required, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

Representative matters

  • Governor's Consent and title perfection
  • Deed of assignment and sublease drafting
  • Development-stage financing and equity raises
  • Joint ventures with landowning families
  • Off-plan sales agreements and escrow structures
  • LASRERA registration and compliance
  • Landlord and tenancy disputes
  • Estate management and community reserved rights
§ III · Retain Counsel

If your matter sits between two of the areas above, so much the better.

Most of the interesting work does. A cabotage joint venture is corporate and maritime. A port concession is regulatory and infrastructure. A refinery land-take is energy and real estate. We staff across benches by default.

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