Uche Val Obi, SAN was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1992 and was conferred with the rank of SAN in 2015. He is the founder and Managing Partner of Alliance Law Firm, a full-service law firm and a Data Protection Compliance Organization (DPCO) duly licensed and certified by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. Uche received a Master’s degree in law (LL.M.) from the University of Lagos and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from ABU Zaria. He is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School, Boston, USA where he obtained an executive certificate in Leading Professional Services Firms in 2013. He is the author of ‘Class Actions In Nigeria’ published in 2015 by MIJ Publishing Company, which is arguably the only fullstretch local textbook on the subject. He has published over 8 peer-reviewed articles in reputable local journals including The Gravitas Review of Business & Property Law, Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, and NBA Lagos Journal.

Mr. Uche Val Obi SAN has played a major role in the development of privacy and data protection jurisprudence in Nigeria and Africa by contributing to policy formulation, stakeholder sensitization and reviewing draft legislation. He is a member of prominent global, regional and local organisations that are centred on enhancing privacy and data protection practices including the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), the International Network of Privacy Law Professionals (INPLP), the Association of Privacy Lawyers in Africa, Privacy Hub Africa, the Association of Licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisation of Nigeria (ALDAPCON), as well as other global, regional and local organisations.

He has advised data controllers and data processors on novel issues pertaining to crossborder data transfers, data sharing, privacy program optimization, privacy by design and default and navigating risks associated with Artificial Intelligence. He has provided specialist guidance to multinationals to ensure compliance with the NDPR, the GDPR, and other data protection laws and regulations. He is currently the Chairman of the Privacy Academy, an academy devoted to training and capacity building for data privacy professionals and data protection officers. He co-founded the Privacy Academy in February 2023 to plug some of the gaps associated with the dearth of trained privacy professionals and inspire stakeholders to contribute towards the building process of a formidable privacy and data protection ecosystem. He is also a Fellow of the Privacy Academy. He actively provides advisory services to leading telecommunication companies operating in Africa and globally on privacy and data protection-related matters. He is involved in the resolution of several disputes bordering on the interpretation of privacy and data protection laws some of which are still pending in court. He has trained and established a team that regularly provides data protection compliance services, risk assessment services, data protection audit, privacy program development, data protection documentation, cross-border data transfer advisory, data processing agreements drafting and review services among many others to businesses operating in Africa and globally. He has published several articles and newsletters on topical and novel issues on privacy and data protection. He is one of the major thought leaders in developing a legal framework for regulating the use and deployment of artificial intelligence and has provided a comprehensive analysis of the overlap of artificial intelligence and data privacy compliance.

He has also contributed to peer – reviewed international journals like Oil, Gas, Energy and Law Journal (OGEL), and the European Journal of Energy and Climate Change. He has also contributed chapters to books of eminent scholars and legal personalities such as Prof Epiphany Azinge SAN, Prof Awa Kalu SAN, Dr Michael Ajogwu SAN, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN and Justice Eugenia Iyizoba, (JCA). He has also reviewed a number of books including the Palgrave Handbook of Natural Gas and Global Energy Transitions edited by Prof. O S Damilola SAN and E G Pereira published in 2023.

He has over 30 years of experience in cognate law practice, including in civil and tortious claims. The Learned Silk is intensely versatile and remarkably combines commercial advisory with formal training in law and business management. He has been ranked as a Top Lawyer by Chambers and as a Leading Lawyer in the IFLR. He has been listed among the integritydriven professionals in Nigeria by major newspapers, including the Guardian and This Day. In addition, he has won several local and international awards testifying to his versatility and professionalism. He has been a notable contributor to the IMF/ World Bank Doing Business Guide publications. He has also delivered papers and co-facilitated a number of seminars, workshops and conferences. In 2018, he delivered a paper on Class Action at the National Conference of Judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja. Uche Val Obi SAN has served on several ministerial and regulatory committees and as a resource to the CBN’s Financial System Strategy (FSS) 2020 Directorate, a member of the Administrative Proceedings Committee of the Securities and Exchange (SEC) Committee and board member of the Investors Protection Fund of SEC. He was the co-lead at the legal sub-group comprising the Nigerian Capital Market Lawyers and representatives of the Law Society of England and Wales, that worked under the Emerging Capital Market Task Force Initiative (ECMTI) which was a collaboration of the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Nigerian Capital Market Stakeholders to facilitate Cross-border Capital Market transactions between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

Over the last three decades, he has regularly appeared extensively at the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, States High Court Tribunals and International Financial Centers are reported in the significant law reports. He is also a notable domestic and international mediator and arbitrator with vast experience in proceedings conducted under the institutional and ad-hoc Rules of ICC Paris, London Court of International Arbitrators (LCIA), London Maritime Arbitrators (LMA), American Arbitrators Association (AAA), UNCITRAL, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration, Lagos Multi-Door House, Lagos Court of Arbitration, etc. It is apt to mention that some of these cases cut across themes in Tort Law. An example is a case of environmental nuisance involving a 500-billion-naira compensation in the Niger Delta Area. He is currently a member of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb). He was a one-time chairman of the Capital Market Solicitors Association (CMSA), and the pioneer Chairman of the NBA-SBL International Trade Law Committee. He is a fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Arbitrators (FCArb), and member of renowned law associations, including the International Bar Association, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK; International Law Association. He is a non-executive director of Nestoil Limited, Necode Energy Limited, ETranzact International Plc, Xcel Incorporation, Uk, among other boards.

He his happily married with children and a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International.