Retrospective Operation of Statute: An Overview Of Section 35(5) Of Amcon Act, 2019.

Articles, Legal Opinions, Parliament

Retrospective operation of Statute is an application of the law to actions, which existed prior to the enactment of the said law. That is, such laws change or alter the legal consequences of acts that took place prior to its enactment. A retrospective law impairs an existing right by creating or imposing a new liability for an act committed before the enactment of a law. A retrospective legislation is contrary to the general principle of prospective operation of law; which provides for and, regulates the future acts of men, and does not interfere in any way with what happened in the past. The question that we face during the applicability of retrospective law is whether a statute or law, should be given a retrospective effect, which takes away or impairs an existing right or impose a new liability.

Basic Insights Music Artistes should know about Intellectual Property Rights

BUSINESS, Entertainment

Beverley Agbakoba-Onyejianya & Pauline Mbanza OAL This short article gives a basic insight into what every budding artiste should know about their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)  in music, it is also for anyone interested in the music industry and the technicalities involved. Intellectual property refers to the creations of the mind such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs…

Nigerian Justices Have Been Selling Election Judgments To Incumbent Presidents Since 1979

Articles, Judiciary, POLITICS

Chief Awolowo and Olusegun Obasanjo exchanged some testy epistles reproduced in Musikilu Mojeed’s The Letterman, in which Awolowo effectively alleged that the appointment of Fatayi-Williams as CJN in 1979 came with an implicit bargain concerning the determination of the election petition of that year. He also suggested that days before the Supreme Court announced the decision on 26 September 1979, Chief Justice Atanda Fatayi-Williams leaked the decision of the Court to General Obasanjo, who desired to be reassured that he could proceed with the inauguration date of 1 October 1979 as planned. Forty-four years later, the current incumbent travelled to India with the assurance of a man who knew that the imminent announcement of the PEPT judgement did not threaten his position.

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.