Practice 02
Corporate & Commercial Advisory
Governance that holds up, contracts that protect the deal.
How we help
- Corporate governance and board advisory
- Company secretarial services and statutory books
- CAMA compliance and CAC filings, including annual returns and share capital changes
- Contract drafting, review and negotiation
- Business structuring and incorporation
- Tender and bid advisory, including Nigerian Content requirements
- Regulatory compliance reviews
Our approach
We start with the register. Most governance problems Nigerian companies face are not exotic — they are unfiled annual returns, statutory books that were never maintained, resolutions that were never passed, and share transfers that were never recorded. OAA Law fixes the record first.
On the commercial side we draft for the failure case: scope, payment, indemnity, termination, and dispute resolution written so that the client's position is defensible when the relationship goes wrong.
Our commercial drafting is informed by years spent administering oil and gas contracts on the client side, where the cost of a loose clause is measured in millions rather than in theory.
Relevant experience
Corporate legal leadership within Nigeria's energy sector, including contract administration for matters involving Mobil Producing Nigeria, NAPIMS, Chevron, Total E&P, SPDC and AGIP. The Principal Partner was part of the team that negotiated the statutory requirement for oil and gas companies to pay 1% of contract value to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), persuading International Oil Companies to absorb the cost rather than pass it to Nigerian contractors.
Frequently asked
- What happens if our company has not filed annual returns for several years?
- The company accrues penalties and can be listed as inactive at the CAC, which blocks filings, financing and tenders. The position is almost always recoverable: OAA Law reconstructs the records, files the outstanding returns, and regularises the register.
- Do we need a company secretary?
- Public companies must have one. Private companies increasingly appoint one because boards, investors and lenders now expect proper minutes, registers and resolutions. We provide the function on a retained basis.
- Can you review a contract quickly?
- Yes. For standard commercial agreements we typically return a marked-up draft with a plain-language risk note within a few working days, and faster where a deadline requires it.
Book a consultation with OAA Law.
Discuss your corporate & commercial advisory matter directly with the Principal Partner.