I obtained my LLB Degree from the University of Maiduguri in 1985 and was called to the Nigerian Bar on the 16th of October, 1986. I was appointed a Notary Public in 1996 and elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1998, at about 12 (twelve) years at the bar. I was the 1st member of the Nigerian Law School set of 1986 and the 1st practitioner from the entire North-Eastern region of the Country to be elevated to the rank. I am currently the founding Principal Partner of J-K Gadzama LLP.
Subsequently, I obtained a Diploma in International Arbitration from Keble College, Oxford University in 2006. I attended the Institute for Public-Private Partnerships (Ip3), Arlington, the USA in 2009 and I further underwent a short course on regulation at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2010.
Having vast experience in litigation and commercial law, I have spearheaded some of the biggest transactions in the Country and have been involved in litigations that have opened new frontiers in our legal system. I have been, for over three decades, an external solicitor to several merchant, commercial, development and industrial banks. I have been retained as an adviser to major multinational corporations, indigenous companies, organizations and a network of high net-worth individuals in Nigeria. In terms of litigation, I was in the past, the lead Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and major political parties in the Country.
Due to my strong anti-corruption record, I was appointed Chairman, Legal Team of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Chairman, National Working Group on the Rome Statute constituted by the office of the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation.
Until recently, I was a Federal Commissioner/Board Member of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission of Nigeria (ICRC); Board Member, Diamond Pension Fund Custodian Ltd, and Board Member, University of Benin Governing Council.
I am a Chartered Arbitrator (C.Arb.), and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators.
I have been featured on “Who’s Who Legal” as an Arbitration Expert and I am the current Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jonada International Centre for Arbitration and Mediation (JICAM) and a former Chair of the Abuja Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria.
