My name is Yakubu Chonoko MAIKYAU, SAN, FCIMC. I am known to many as Y.C. Maikyau. I obtained my Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Degree in 1989 from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and was called to the Nigerian Bar on 12 December 1990.
After the mandatory NYSC programme, I joined the law firm of Messrs. Danladi Bamaiyi and Co. in Sokoto, where I worked for 13 years and rose to become the Head of Chambers until I founded the law firm of Y. C. Maikyau & Co., in 2003, with offices in Abuja, Sokoto and Kebbi States. On the 26 August 2011, I was conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
I obtained a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London, United Kingdom and was admitted as Fellow of the Institute (FCIArb) in September 2014.
I am also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (FICMC).
I am a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the International Bar Association (IBA). As a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, I have served and continue to serve the Bar in many capacities.
I was a Member of the NBA Legal Profession Regulation Review Committee (LPRRC), which made far-reaching recommendations for the reform of the Profession culminating in the Legal Profession Regulation Bill; Chairman, North Disciplinary Committee from 2012 to 2014; I am the immediate past Chairman, Law and Individual Rights Committee of the Section on Legal Practice and had also served as a member of the ad hoc Welfare Committee set up by the NBA to alleviate the hardship occasioned on members of the Bar by the COVID–19 pandemic.
I am the pioneer and current Chairman of the NBA Welfare Committee and have been a member of the NBA National Executive Council (NEC) since 2018.
As an advocate, I have had the privilege of handling several notable cases that have impacted on the Nigerian legal landscape. One of such cases is Re: Abdullahi, (2018) 14 NWLR (Part 1639) 272, where the Supreme Court of Nigeria, on the strength of our arguments, reached a novel decision, allowing the substitution of a deceased appellant in a criminal case with the administrators of his estate for the purpose of preserving the civil rights of the estate.
Very early in my career, I also had the privilege of capturing national attention as counsel in the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission of Nigeria – The Oputa Panel – set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo, following the return of Nigeria to Democracy in 1999.
Beyond litigation, I have advised on alternative financing transactions, facility disbursement and served on arbitral tribunals as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator, presiding arbitrator and counsel.
Outside the field of law, I am a graduate of Rhema Bible Training Centre, Nigeria, where I was awarded a Diploma in Ministerial Training, with emphasis on Societal Leadership. I am a community development and welfare enthusiast and Patron of Purpose Global Academy in D’lanko, Danko- Wasagu Local Government Area, Kebbi State – a pet project which has been responsible for several free medical outreaches in my home state, Kebbi State.
I am happily married to Zainab Maikyau and the marriage is blessed with Four (4) children.
I am from Kebbi State, one of the States in the Northern geographical zone as delineated by the NBA Constitution, 2015 (as amended) (the “NBA Constitution”).
