Ahmed Mohammed Yabo
Esq. LL.B, BL, LL.M, MSc, PGDM, MBA, AdvCert (Arb.) FCTI, FNIM, CMgrFCMI (UK), MCIArb (UK), ACIS
Co-Founding Partner/Secretary
(Energy Law & Policy, Corporate & Commercial Law, Corporate Governance, Tax Administration, Arbitration and ADR)
Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Yabo is a Legal Practitioner, Certified Commercial Arbitration & ADR Practitioner, Tax Administrator, Chartered & Certified Company Secretary/Governance Professional/Trainer and Chartered Professional Manager with multi-disciplinary continuous education and training in Environmental, Solid Minerals & Energy Law, Policy, Economics & Energy Finance. He earned a Combined Honours Degree in Law in the year 2000 (Second Class Upper & Best Graduating Student in the Faculty of Law and recipient of 2 out of the 3 Prizes available) from Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, Nigeria (UDUS). He then attended the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Nigerian Bar in May 2002. Mr. Yabo also earned dual master’s Degrees (LL.M. & MSc. With Distinction) in Energy Law, Policy & Finance from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum & Energy Law & Policy, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK. Mr. Yabo also earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies (PGDM) and Master of Business Administration (MBA), both from UDUS. Furthermore, Mr. Yabo received Executive Education at Harvard University, USA (Law School & Kennedy School of Government), Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation/Association of International Petroleum Negotiators), USA, CWC School for Energy, UK, INSEAD, France, & PetroSkills, Singapore.
Mr. Yabo has over 30 years of cumulative work experience, the last 20 years of which represent continuous progressive cognate work experience spanning the private and public sectors, including 12 years of cognate oil & gas legal/regulatory and corporate governance public sector in-house role as Head, Legal and Secretariat from March 2005 to June 2017.
To complement his academic qualifications, Mr. Yabo has received several national and international professional certifications by authorised professional bodies, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); the International Bar Association (IBA); the American Bar Association (ABA); Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN); International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE); Fellow, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN); Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM-Chartered); Fellow, Chartered Management Institute, (CMI-UK); Full Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb-UK); Associate, Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN); and Associate, the Energy Institute, UK. He is also multi-lingual (English, Arabic & Hausa) & proficient in basic computing.
Expectedly, Mr. Yabo has deployed his highly rated academic and professional certifications to garner much-needed cognate work experience in diverse fields of the public and private sectors:
Upon being called to the Nigerian Bar in May 2002, Mr. Yabo commenced private legal practice in the law firm of Imam Ibrahim & Co. (Mutunci Law Chambers) Sokoto and later moved to Capital Chambers, Abuja.
In March 2005, Mr Yabo joined the civil service as an international civil servant with the Nigeria-Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Authority (JDA) as Principal Legal/Administrative Officer and rose to the position of Assistant Director and Head, Legal & Secretariat before retiring voluntarily in June 2017. While in the JDA:
- He negotiated, drafted, and managed several commercial and regulatory instruments. One of the highlights of Mr. Yabo’s activities at the JDA was the negotiation, drafting and execution of Production Sharing Contracts, Farm-in Agreements, Joint Operating Agreements, etc., with notable International Oil Companies like Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total, SINOPEC, Anadarko, Addax, etc.
- He was also instrumental to the revision and drafting of the 2014 Petroleum Regulations, Non-petroleum/Fisheries Regulations, Petroleum and Non-petroleum Tax Regulations, Local Content Regulations, Environmental Regulations and Staff Regulations applicable in the JDA.
- Mr. Yabo also acquired and deployed extensive experience and expertise in corporate communication and liaison at the highest levels of engagement, including regulator-business (regulator-business CEO), national inter-governmental (regulator-national executive-national parliament) and bi-lateral (inter-presidential/inter-ministerial and inter-parliamentary). He is a highly regarded and sought-after resource person and consultant in energy law & policy, international cross-border natural resource and dispute management, corporate and commercial law, legal & commercial drafting, and corporate governance (board matters, enterprise risk and internal control).
- While in the JDA, he was also, concurrently, the Company Secretary and Legal Adviser of JDA’s two (2) wholly owned limited liability companies (JDZ Investment International Limited) in Nigeria and Sao Tome & Principe.
Mr. Yabo also served as Honorary Special Assistant to the General Counsel and Secretary of the Legal Services Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from October 2017 to April 2019. In that capacity, he served as member of several high-powered Ministerial and other Committees of the FCTA. Mr. Yabo resumed private legal practice as Principal Solicitor/Consultant of the firm he founded in 2002 (Ahmed M. Yabo & Co.) until he co-founded Gulf Consulting LLP with the other 2 co-founding partners.