The air at the cocktail was electric. Industry titans, dealmakers, clergy, and captains of commerce gathered not merely to witness a transition but to affirm something they had long known. Perchstone & Graeys, one of Nigeria’s most consequential commercial law firms, had entered a new chapter.
The occasion was the formal announcement of Dr Tolu Aderemi as the new Managing Partner of the 29-year-old firm, a moment that blended nostalgia with unmistakable forward energy.
Uyi Akpata, Regional Director of PwC Africa, opened the conversation on sustainability and succession planning, setting the intellectual tone for an evening that would prove far more than ceremonial. His remarks landed with particular weight in a room full of people who had built things and understood what it costs to keep them standing.
The founders, Remi Okunlola and Osaro Eghobamien SAN, then took the room on a journey through 29 years of building. They spoke of wins and losses, of opportunities seized and some missed, but above all, of the three things that kept the firm alive and respected through every season: character, integrity, and hard work. There was nothing rehearsed about it. The room listened.
Dr Ibukun Awosika, former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, brought her characteristic clarity to the evening. She spoke on the imperative of doing business with integrity and sustainability, and commended Perchstone & Graeys as a firm she had watched distinguish itself over the years through exactly those values. Her words carried the authority of someone who does not give praise lightly.
Then came the moment the evening had been building toward.
Osaro Eghobamien, who had served as Managing Partner for over two decades and who had personally navigated the firm through some of Nigeria’s most defining commercial moments, formally announced Dr Tolu Aderemi as his successor. It was emotional. It was confident. And it was clear that this was not a handover born of fatigue but one born of faith.
Dr Aderemi rose to the occasion with the composure of someone who had long been in the room and was now simply standing at its centre. He paid tribute to the founders without sentimentality, acknowledging that what the firm enjoys today was built by people who had the discipline to build it right.
He then offered the room a frame for understanding what Perchstone & Graeys has always been and what it intends to remain. He called it the theory of the room. At every defining moment in Nigeria’s commercial history, whether the banking reforms, the recapitalisation of 2004, the oil boom between 2005 and 2008, or the major transactions that reshaped entire sectors, Perchstone was either in the room or building the room. That, he said, is not coincidence. It is character expressed commercially.
Looking forward, Dr Aderemi was precise. The firm will operate on three pillars: integrity, business acumen, and ingenuity. These are not aspirational words. They are the operating architecture of how Perchstone will serve its clients and conduct its internal affairs going forward.
He also announced a decisive shift in service delivery. All client instructions will now be subjected to technology, with artificial intelligence and blockchain, including the tokenisation of assets, forming part of how the firm works. This is not a firm chasing trends. This is a firm that has always understood where things are going before others arrive there.
The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of a new logo for Perchstone & Graeys, followed by the official decoration of the firm’s partners with the new insignia. It was a visual declaration. Something had changed. Something had also remained exactly the same.
Dr Stella Okoli OON, Chairman of Emzor Pharmaceuticals, added her voice to the evening, praising the firm for building a structure that can sustain itself and grow beyond its founders. That, in a country where institutional memory often walks out with the people who created it, is no small thing.
The guest list itself told a story. Austin Avuru, founder of Seplat and now Chairman of AA Holdings, was present. So was Pa Wigwe, father of the late Herbert Wigwe, former CEO of Access Bank. The Anyaim Osigwe brothers were in the room. The leadership of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria attended. Representation came from oil and gas, power, renewable energy, banking and finance, and the clergy. Nigeria’s business community did not send delegates. It showed up.
Perchstone & Graeys turns 29 having buried nothing and abandoned nothing. Under Dr Tolu Aderemi, it carries its history as an asset and its future as a commitment. For anyone doing serious business in Nigeria, that is a firm worth knowing.