Biography: Commercial Arbitration

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Olawale Akoni SAN is the managing partner of Babalakin & Co and has extensive experience as a seasoned litigator and arbitrator. Babalakin & Co is one of the leading commercial law firms in Nigeria with proven competence and vast capacity in banking and securities; energy, company secretarial services; corporate governance; corporate restructuring, joint ventures and taxation; foreign investments, real estate as well as litigation/dispute resolution. The firm has offices in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt, Nigeria.

Wale attended the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria where he obtained a BSc with honours in Political Science in 1982 and an LLB with honours in 1986. He was thereafter called to the Nigerian Bar in 1987 after emerging as the recipient of several awards of excellence including the coveted prize for best overall performance. He is a member of both the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association.

Wale is a Notary Public of Nigeria and is approved by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission to carry on legal services in the Nigerian Capital Market. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK).

Wale was also conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2006. He was appointed chairman of the High Court of Lagos State (civil procedure) rules review panel and also the committee chairman on judicial appointment and bench relations of the Nigerian Bar Association.

His areas of specialisation include litigation, corporate tax and commercial arbitration.

Wale has been involved in several arbitral proceedings relating to domestic and international transactions for a wide range of clients.

He is presently representing Nigeria's national oil entity in matters relating to arbitral proceedings involving sums in excess of US$300 million.

He is also currently representing a major multinational oil company in a dispute against a Nigerian company over the acquisition of petroleum assets worth in excess of US$7.5 billion.

He recently represented one of the oil and gas majors in an arbitral proceeding over a regulatory dispute with the Nigerian maritime regulatory authority.