Unveiling The Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023: An Expert Appraisal Of Key Provisions

BUSINESS, Legal Opinions

A notable provision of the Act is the inclusion of legitimate interest as a basis for processing personal data.[5] Legitimate interest comes up in an instance where an organisation needs to process personal data in order to discharge responsibilities related to the business that may not necessarily be justified by a legal or contractual obligation but such processing of personal data can be justified on grounds of legitimate interest. This implies that data controllers and processors can justify the processing on grounds of legitimate interest. e.g. data processing for the prevention of fraud, and employee-employer relationships.

The Student Loan Act: Need For A Review

Legal Opinions

Further, given that the Student Loan Act is to assist poor Nigerians, the stipulation that the applicant must furnish at least two guarantors, each of whom must be a civil servant with at least 12 years of service may be an herculean task for the poor. It may be a big challenge for the poor to get a lawyer with ten years of post-call experience as a guarantor. How is a student who lacks the funds to complete his study going to be able to find a lawyer with ten years of post-call experience to serve as a guarantor? The statute has to be reconsidered because few poor Nigerians will be able to utilize this student loan program as a result of this clause.

Appraising Section 14 of the Business Facilitation Act 2023 and its Effect on Banks

Articles, BUSINESS, Parliament

The consequence of the amendment is that public companies can no longer appoint a minimum of three (3) independent directors. The new requirement compels public companies to appoint not less than one-third of their board members as independent directors. So, for instance, if an affected public company has 18 members on its board, six (6) of them are required by the amendment to be independent directors. Under the old law, it would have been three (3). The impact of 275 (1) & (2) of CAMA (as amended) is that some public companies may need to replace Non-Executive Directors or Executive Directors on its board with independent directors to maintain the threshold of one-third of the board members provided by the new section 275 of CAMA. Some boards of public companies may lose policy control of their companies. 

Harnessing ADR: The Key to Resolving Technology Disputes Effectively

BUSINESS, Legal Education

By Chukwunoyenim Okoh & Beverley Agbakoba-Onyejianya Introduction The external environment is in a constant state of flux with constantly changing regulations, accelerating speed of technological development, uncertainties in the socio-political climate and the introduction of smart working which has blurred the lines between our professional and personal lives. The legal sector is equally not spared,…

Navigating the Investment Spectrum: Ordinary Shares vs Preferred Shares. The Investors’ Dilemma

Articles, BUSINESS

When dividends are declared, ordinary shareholders are the last set of persons to be paid. The amount paid will differ from one month to another depending on the profits declared by the company. Preferred shares on the other hand, often have a fixed dividend rate specified at the time of issuance. The dividend is usually expressed at a percentage based on the face value or par value of the shares. Unlike ordinary shareholders, preferred shareholders typically receive their dividends before ordinary shareholders receive theirs, and the dividend amount is predetermined and unchanging throughout the duration of that investment.

Securing Nigeria’s Maritime Domain: Vigilance, Hot Pursuit, and Combating Crude Oil Theft

Articles, BUSINESS, Legal Opinions, NEWS

Hot pursuit is the right of a coastal state to continue, outside its territorial sea, contiguous zone, or certain adjacent areas, the pursuit of a foreign vessel that has violated its laws and regulations while in its internal waters or territorial sea, contiguous zone, or certain adjacent areas. The pursuit must, however, have started as soon as the violation occurred and not been aborted.

Lawyers/Law Firms are Taxable Persons Liable to Pay VAT — Conclusions from Al-Masser vs. FIRS

Articles, BUSINESS, Judiciary, Legal Opinions

“Taxable person” includes an individual or body of individuals, family, corporations sole, trustee or executor or a person who carries out in a place an economic activity, a person exploiting tangible and intangible property for the purpose of obtaining income therefrom by way of trade or business or a person or agency of Government acting in that capacity.

In delivering its judgment, the Court of Appeal held that a lawyer or firm of lawyers in private practice provides legal services for a fee, and so are taxable persons bound by sections 1, 2, 14(1), 15(1) and 46 of the VAT Act to pay VAT to the FIRS for legal services they provide. In the words of the Court of Appeal,…