Gbenga
Oyebode MFR has been described by International Financial Law Review IFLR 1000
(the guide to the World’s leading Financial Law Firm) as ‘one of Nigeria’s most
prominent Lawyers’ and by Chambers Global as a ‘consummate deal maker who has
received pundits from clients and peer alike for his corporate expertise’. 
Mr. Oyebode is a
Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (admitted June 1980)
and an Attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of New York State (admitted
November 1983). He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and the American
Bar Society of International Law. He holds a Master of Laws from University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (1982) and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the
University of Ife (1979).
Gbenga worked as an
Associate with White & Case, New York between 1982 and 1983. He joined Gulf
Oil Company, Lagos and Houston between 1983 to 1985. Was a partner with the law
firm of  Ajumogobia, Okeke, Oyebode and
Aluko [Barristers, Solicitors and Notaries] between 1985-1992 before he became
the Managing Partner, Aluko & Oyebode in 1993. 

Gbenga is currently the Chairman of the
Management Board at Aluko & Oyebode and in that capacity coordinates
the various practice areas of the Firm. In addition to his managerial role, he
heads the Firm’s corporate and energy practice areas. Gbenga has extensive
experience in corporate and commercial practice with a special emphasis in the
following practice areas:
  • Oil and
    gas and power projects
  • Foreign
    Investment and Privatisation
  • Telecommunications
  • Project
    Finance
  • Aviation
Gbenga has also been involved in the
negotiation of complex commercial agreements for a wide variety of transactions
and is a
Fellow of the Chartered Institute
of Arbitrators (UK) (FCIArb). He was conferred with one of Nigeria’s highest
honours, the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR) in
the year 2001. He was also conferred with the Belgian Royal Honour of ‘Knight
of the Order of Leopold’ in 2007. He is the Chairman, Okomu Oil Palm Plc and
also serves on the Board of MTN Nigeria and Crusader Insurance Plc. Mr Oyebode is also the Chairman, Access Bank Plc. Forbes described Gbenga as on
e of Nigeria’s most renowned commercial lawyers and stated that the value of his shareholdings  is worth tens of millions of dollars. 
Gbenga
Oyebode has presented many papers including:
  • Law firm partnerships in Nigeria – pitfalls
    to avoid 
  • Legal Practice as a Business – The
    Legal Practitioner’s Perspective
  • The Budding Lawyer in a Global
    World: Challenges and Opportunities
  •  Partnerships in Nigeria – Prospects
    & Challenges: A Law Firm’s Perspective 
  •  GSM: Opportunities, Challenges and
    Impact on the Nigerian Economy: Pertinent Considerations in the Legal Framework
    of an Efficient GSM Industry in Nigeria
  •  Legal Issues in Oil & Gas
    Project Finance.
  •  Petroleum Exploration and
    Development in West and Southern Africa (Legal Perspectives: Anglophone
    Countries).
  • Ownership and Control Issues
    regarding Oil & Gas and Hard Minerals in Areas of Disputed Borders: A West
    African Perspective.
  • Project Financing in the Nigerian
    Petroleum Industry – The Oso Condensate Project.
  • The Governmental Regulatory Approval
    Processes in Nigeria of Acquisition and Disposal of Oil Producing Properties
  •  Governmental Regulatory Approval
    Processes in Nigeria on Acquisition and Disposal of Oil Producing Properties