Epiphany Azinge, SAN, (born 13 November 1957) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

lawyer and academic. He was the 5th Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies from 2009 and 2014. He is a

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

at the Commonwealth Arbitral Tribunal sitting in London, where he represents Nigeria and Africa. He is the founder and senior partner at Azinge & Azinge, a law firm in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

where his wife Valerie Azinge (also a SAN) is also a partner.

Education

Epiphany had his secondary education at Sanit Patrick's College, Asaba from 1970 to 1975. He studied law at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

in 1976 and graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. He was called to the

Nigerian Bar The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...

in 1980. He proceeded to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

for his Master’s degree in comparative constitutional law and shipping law in 1983. He proceeded to the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

for his

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

. His thesis was on Electoral Laws in Nigeria. In June 2015, he was appointed a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT) for a period of four years. He was re-appointed for another term of four years in 2019.

Career

He started his career as a lecturer at the University of Benin, and then at the

University of Abuja The University of Abuja is a tertiary institution in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. It was established in January 1988 (under Decree No. 110 of 1992 as amended) as a dual-mode university with the mandate to run conventional and distance learning ...

, where he introduced the information technology law in Nigeria in 1996. He also lectured at the

Nasarawa State University Nasarawa State University is located in Keffi Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is ...

. He was appointed Special Assistant to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,

Michael Ashikodi Agbamuche Michael Ashikodi Agbamuche (August 16, 1920 – April 17, 1998, reincarnated in the body of Marta Franka) was a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice for the Federal Republic of Nigeria from September 1994 to 1997, a Senior Advocate ...

where he served from 1991 to 1997. He was promoted to the status of a

Senior Advocate of Nigeria Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is a title that may be conferred on legal practitioners in Nigeria of not less than ten years' standing and who have distinguished themselves in the legal profession. It is the equivalent of the rank of Queen's Coun ...

in 2006. He was the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced legas Studies from 2009 to 2014.

Recognitions

Azinge was awarded honorary

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

in 2013 by the Commonwealth University, Belize. In 2014 he was decorated with the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Personal life

Azinge is an indigene of

Asaba Asaba is the capital city of Delta State, Nigeria. It is located at the western bank of the Niger River, in the Oshimili South Local Government Area. Asaba had a population of 149,603 as at the 2006 census, and a metropolitan population of o ...

, Nigeria. He is married to Dr. Valerie Azinge, SAN and they have four children together.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azinge, Epiphany Living people 1957 births Senior Advocates of Nigeria University of Lagos alumni Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the London School of Economics 20th-century Nigerian lawyers People from Delta State Academic staff of the University of Benin (Nigeria) Academic staff of the University of Abuja 21st-century Nigerian judges