Keynote speaker Chief Wole Olanipekun will address electoral law, election petitions and the future of democracy in Nigeria, along with discussants Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku, Mallam Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim and Chief Dele Momodu. The event will be chaired by Professor Wale Adebanwi.

This panel discussion is held as part of the Nigeria in Transition workshop, co-hosted with the Oxford Martin School, the African Studies Centre and the Centre for the Study of African Economies.

Keynote speaker biography

Chief Wole Olanipekun, a Senor Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), is one of Nigeria’s most senior and most accomplished lawyers. He has held different offices including being a former Attorney General of the Old Ondo State, Past President of the Nigerian Bar Association, former council member of the International Bar Association and Commonwealth Bar Association, Vice President (West Africa) of the Pan African Law Union and a life member of the Nigerian Body of Benchers. Between 2004 and 2006, Olanipekun was the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s premier university.

Panelists

Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar was appointed as the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Federal Republic of Germany in June 2017.

Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku is Head of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Secretariat, based at the OECD.

Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim is a Nigerian politician and businessman. He is the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), a Nigerian political party.

Chief Dele Momodu is a Nigerian journalist, publisher, businessman, philanthropist and motivational speaker.

Professor Wale Adebanwi is Director of the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford and Rhodes Professor of Race Relations.