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…Aims to continue significant contributions to Energy Law Field
As Nigeria continues to work toward several transitions in its energy sector, legal experts like Mr. Oluwatumininu Odunuga are ensuring these transitions are guided by international best practices, bankable regulations, and economic inclusivity.
With his advanced law degree programme at NYU School of Law, Mr. Odunuga is poised to contribute meaningfully to the acceleration of Nigeria’s industrial growth.
Mr. Oluwatumininu Odunuga, a leading energy lawyer in Nigeria, has become a Grunin Scholar at the New York University School of Law, New York, United States of America. The award follows Mr. Odunuga’s admission into the university’s prestigious and highly competitive Master of Laws programme.
Renowned for his legal expertise within Nigeria’s energy and power sectors, Mr. Odunuga said he was pleased with the award, adding that it provided him yet another opportunity to make significant contributions to the field of energy law, especially on emerging legal issues and policies impacting both the domestic and international energy markets.
Mr. Odunuga graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree, with honours, from the prestigious Osun State University, where he focused on Energy Law. His record-breaking achievement at the Nigerian Law School in 2017, where he graduated with First Class Honours among over 5,891 candidates, marked his entry into the Nigerian legal market. Mr. Odunuga quickly became a household name in the Nigerian energy sector, critiquing then-extant laws regulating the extraction, exploration, distribution, and export of petroleum resources in the country and advocating for market-friendly laws and regulations.
Mr. Odunuga is a go-to legal adviser for major stakeholders in Nigeria’s energy sector, including the Federal Government of Nigeria and private multinational energy corporations. In 2018, he was on the team of legal experts that advised the Federal Government on the development of the 2018 Flare Gas (Prevention of Waste and Pollution) Regulations, which helped Nigeria formalize the commercial capture and utilization of historically flared gas during oil production. The regulations provided a clear legal basis for third-party participation and defined enforceable rights under Nigeria’s upstream petroleum laws. He also supported the Federal Government in implementing the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP), creating a transparent and competitive market for the allocation and sale of gas flares.
Through his guidance, including the development of a regulatory and contractual framework for the implementation of the NGFCP, Mr. Odunuga helped the Federal Government unlock untapped value across the gas value chain, including the monetization of flared gas, promoting a cleaner environment, and reducing waste. The programme also supports the government’s objective of transitioning Nigeria from an oil-dependent economy to a gas-led one, positioning natural gas not merely as a transitional fuel but as a long-term pillar of industrial growth, domestic energy supply, and export revenue.
Mr. Odunuga also advised N-Gas Limited, the primary shipper of natural gas on the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), on complex operational issues arising from the cross-border sale and transportation of natural gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo, and Ghana. His work involved providing strategic legal guidance on gas delivery obligations, regulatory compliance under the ECOWAS Energy Protocol, and contractual performance issues related to pipeline infrastructure and third-party access. He assisted in navigating interface challenges between upstream producers, transport operators, and regional power utilities, ensuring contractual clarity and minimizing legal risk within a multi-jurisdictional framework.
