Ngo-Martins Okonmah
Partner, ALN Nigeria Aluko & Oyebode
Ngo-Martins is a skilled litigator with a strong understanding of his clients’ industries. In 2017, he was on the team that successfully represented a local subsidiary of a British multinational company in insolvency proceedings, which sought to dissolve the company on the grounds of an inability to pay a debt contained pursuant to an arbitration award.
This case was a notable professional accomplishment for the team because it laid down the law on the requirement to enforce arbitral awards under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, before initiating insolvency proceedings. Ngo-Martins is also a lawyer who recognises that in certain instances, the peculiarity of a case requires the law to “move on” for the client’s commercial objective to be achieved.
Ngo-Martins represented JGC Corporation in a successful tax appeal dispute involving the company’s tax liabilities under an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract executed with ExxonMobil. This victory turned on a reappraisal of the concept of “fixed base” in assessing offshore companies with respect to Nigerian tax. The success of the appeal resulted in savings for the client to the tune of US$8,205,536.10.