It is not for nothing that Asue Ighodalo has been consistently ranked as a leading and/or top-tier lawyer in all his areas of practice by leading legal directories. It is also not a mere coincidence that Banwo & Ighodalo, a commercial law firm he co-founded with Femi Olubanwo in 1991, is described as “a foremost corporate commercial law firm in Nigeria that is consistently listed in the top tier of several leading Nigerian and international legal directories, publications and journals”.
The 1981 Economics graduate of University of Ibadan and 1984 Law graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a stickler for excellence. His rich resume bears eloquent testimony to this.
In an entry on his LinkedIn page, Ighodalo says of himself: “I am the Chairman, Board of Directors, Sterling Bank Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Levene Energy Group Limited, DO II Designs Limited and Global Mix Limited. I also sit on the boards of Mainstreet Technologies Limited (ownership company of MainOne Cable Limited), Cardinal Stone Partners, Okomu Oil Palm Plc, Christopher Kolade Foundation and Boff&Co. Insurance Brokers. I am also the immediate past Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and also served on the Board of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority until May 2021.”
IFLR1000, a leading international legal market research product, describes him as “a consummate lawyer, successful business person and a great leader”.
whoswholegal.com says he is “a leading lawyer with deep expertise in domestic and international debt and equity capital raisings for private corporations, as well as the Nigerian government” and “a prominent name in the capital markets space” who “is highly sought after by clients for his financing and transactional expertise”.
These qualities have shone forth in every position that Asue Ighodalo has held.
In an interview published in the Nigeria Issue of Law Digest, Spring 2020 edition, Asue Ighodalo speaks of having achieved all that he had set out to do during his term as Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) between 2014 and 2016.
“We expanded focus areas and dedicated a committee to training, we ensured strong governance structures and accountability, we established a forum and strong working relationship with in-house counsel, we secured our own office space (well-equipped and furnished) and when I left office end of July 2016, we had a handsome sum in our fund,” he tells Law Digest.
The man who chairs the Board of Trustees of Alaghodaro, an annual investment summit in Edo State, began his legal career as Associate at Chris Ogunbanjo & Co in September 1985 before co-founding Banwo & Ighodalo in 1991 alongside Femi Olubanwo. He has in the past 38 years of practice, and specifically in the last 32 years as a corporate and commercial lawyer, demonstrated an undisputed flair for brokering and assuring the smooth conclusion of the most complicated negotiations, as evidenced in his stellar record on complex and high-value financing issues.
Ighodalo is known to have often been instrumental to the development of ingenious and effective strategies for ensuring the success of transactions in which he is involved. Indeed, it has been said that his background in Economics has been advantageous and most useful in attaining the often desired balance between law and the exigencies of business whilst negotiating billion-dollar transactions.
And negotiating billion-dollar transactions is his turf. At the law firm of Banwo & Ighodalo, which specialises in advising major corporations on corporate finance, capital markets, energy & natural resources, mergers & acquisitions, banking & securitization, and project finance, Ighodalo has for many years led the firm’s advisory teams in numerous domestic and international capital market transactions launched by private and public corporates across various sectors. These include, but are not limited to, banking, finance, energy and natural resources, and fast-moving consumer goods. He has also advised on transactions involving the issuance of various instruments, ranging from shares and bonds to global depository receipts and global depository notes.
Highlighting Ighodalo’s recent transactions, IFLR1000 says he has “advised MTN Nigeria Communications Plc in connection with the listing of its ordinary shares by way of introduction on the Premium Board of the Nigeria Stock Exchange; advised Interswitch Limited in connection with the establishment of a N30 billion Bond Issuance Programme through a wholly owned special purpose vehicle incorporated by Interswitch Limited; advised Vink + Co GmbH Handelsgesellschaft und Co KG on its acquisition of 100% equity stake and control of Scomi Anticor S.A; advised Access Bank Plc in connection with the scheme of merger between Diamond Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc. This transaction resulted in Access Bank Plc becoming the largest Nigerian and African retail bank.”
But that’s not all. Ighodalo also led the teams that advised (i) Bank of Industry Limited in connection with the issuance of €750,000,000 eurobond by BOI Finance B.V (an SPV incorporated by Bank of Industry Limited); (ii) the Federal Government of Nigeria in connection with the issuance of an aggregate of $4 billion notes; (iii) Joint Lead Managers in connection with the issuance of $400,000,000 notes by Fidelity Bank Plc in the international capital markets, and also advised Dangote Cement Plc in connection with the establishment of a Share Buyback Programme of up to 10% of Dangote Cement Plc’s issued share capital and the execution of the first tranche under the Programme.
He has served as Chairman, Legal/Regulatory Sub-Committee of the Electric Power Sector Reform & Implementation Committee (2001-2004); Anti-trust and Competition Committee (2002-2004); Policy and Monitoring Committee of the National Council on Privatisation (2007 -2009); Vice Chairman of the committee established by the Nigerian Government to review the Investment & Securities Act, 2007 (June 2010); Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Technical Committee on Demutualization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (September 2011), among others.
A highly cerebral lawyer, Ighodalo understands the importance of continuous learning and has undertaken various courses including at Aspen Institute, Harvard Business School, and INSEAD. He has published many articles in leading law publications and also presented papers on capital markets issues both within and outside Nigeria. He occasionally lectures on corporate governance, directors’ duties and responsibilities, and entrepreneurship at the Institute of Directors, Lagos Business School and FATE Foundation entrepreneurial training sessions.
When Nigerian Breweries Plc announced Asue Ighodalo’s appointment as a Non-Executive Chairman of the company late April 2023, in line with the Board’s succession plan, as a replacement for Kolawole B. Jamodu who retired from the Board and as the Chairman of the Board on April 30, 2023, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, in a congratulatory message, said the appointment was an affirmation of Ighodalo’s “years of work in building a solid reputation as Nigeria’s leading boardroom maestro and businessman, having served on the boards of different companies across various sectors of the economy”. He saluted Ighodalo’s “track record of excellence and an unbending will to strive for the best at all times” and his “genius and commitment to perfection”.
But Ighodalo is not all about work. When he is not sitting at board meetings or advising firms on deals, he finds time to play golf, watch football, read, travel, or participate in political discourse. Unsurprisingly, he belongs to many professional associations, including Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigerian Economic Summit Group, International Bar Association (IBA), Nigerian Maritime Law Association, Commercial Law & Taxation Committee of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry, London School of Economics Lawyers’ Group, Chartered Institute of Taxation, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), USA – and the list goes on.
