Kenna Partners, typically shortened to Kenna is one of Nigeria's leading law firms headquartered in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, with offices 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 ...

and

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Énú ...

. The firm is known for its work in dispute resolution and specialized transactions in energy,

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

s, and

financial services Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...

. The firm is regulated by the General Council of the Bar.

History

Founded in 1993 as Kenna & Associates and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, the firm underwent a restructuring to become Kenna Partners in 2011. In the year 2013, the firm celebrated its 20th anniversary with the presentation of a book titled ‘Law & Society’ authored by Fabian Ajogwu SAN (Senior Partner in the firm) and presented by Dr

Christopher Kolade Christopher Kolade, CON (born 1932), is a Nigerian diplomat and academic. Early life and education He was born in Erin – Oke, Osun State, Nigeria, in 1932. He completed his secondar-school education at Government College, Ibadan after which he ...

CON. The firm marked its 25th anniversary in 2018 with the presentation of the book ''Brief Insights: A Selection of Milestone Cases'', authored by the firm. In 2023, the firm announced a leadership change with the appointment of a Managing Partner and Deputy Managing Partner, with a Practice Director at the helm of its administration. It also celebrated its 30th anniversary with a colloquium of national importance which featured Professor Mervyn King SC in the same year, and presented the second volume of its book ''Brief Insights: A Selection of Milestone Cases''. The firm's client list includes public and privately held commercial businesses and financial institutions, multinational firms, as well as governments and state-owned entities.

Practice Areas

Kenna Partners is fully registered with the

Africa Finance Corporation Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is a pan-African Multilateral Development Financial Institution established in 2007 by sovereign African states to provide pragmatic solutions to Africa's infrastructure deficit and challenging operating enviro ...

. The firm is structured into three main Groups –

Commercial Law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branc ...

(corporate & investment dealings) Group, Energy & Natural Resources Practice Group, and Civil Litigation and Dispute Management Group. The firm’s practice areas include: *

Alternative Dispute Resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

Litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

* Banking Law, Investments &

Corporate Finance Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the Value investing, value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and anal ...

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

, Media and

Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

* Corporate &

Criminal Law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

Natural Resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

Environmental Law Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the manage ...

Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

Privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

& Regulatory Law * Non Profit &

Charitable Organisations A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

Estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representat ...

Real Estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

* Intermodal Carriage *

Maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

Publications

The firm continues to contribute immensely to legal development practice in Nigeria through the authoring of notable books that were published by Center for Commercial Law Development (CCLD). Some of which are: * Kenna Partners (2023), ''Brief Insights: A Selection of Milestone Cases'' – Volume II, Commercial Law Development Services (CLDS), 434 pages, * King, Mervyn and Ajogwu, Fabian (2020), ''Outcomes-Based Governance: A Modern Approach to Corporate Governance'', Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd, , Cape Town, South Africa, 207 pages * Kenna Partners (2018), ''Brief Insights: A Selection of Milestone Cases, Commercial Law Development Services'' (CLDS), , Lagos, Nigeria, 362 pages * Ajogwu, Fabian (2017), ''Ship Acquisition & Finance: Law & Practice, Commercial Law Development Services'' (CLDS), Lagos, Nigeria, 255 pages, * Solanke, Folake and Ajogwu, Fabian (2016), ''Oral & Written Advocacy: Law & Practice, Commercial Law Development Services'' (CLDS), , Lagos, Nigeria, 302 pages * Ajogwu, Fabian and Kenna Partners (2015), ''Trade & Investments in Nigeria: Legal & Regulatory Aspects, Commercial Law Development Services'' (CLDS), , Lagos, Nigeria, 436 pages * Ajogwu, et al, (2015), ''Company Secretary’s Guide on Corporate Governance, Commercial Law Development Services'' (CLDS), , Lagos, Nigeria, 329 pages * Ajogwu, Fabian and Oscar Nliam (2014): ''Petroleum Law and Sustainable Development, Eds. Center for Commercial Law Development'' (CCLD), Lagos, Nigeria * Ajogwu, Fabian (2010), ''Fair Hearing, Centre for Commercial Law Development'' (CCLD), Lagos, Nigeria, 166 pages, * Ajogwu, Fabian and Kenna & Associates (2007), ''Legal & Regulatory Aspects of Business (Issues in doing business in Nigeria) Eds. Center for Commercial Law Development'' (CCLD), Lagos, Nigeria * Ajogwu, Fabian (2007), ''Corporate Governance in Nigeria: Law and Practice, Eds. Center for Commercial Law Development'' (CCLD), Lagos, Nigeria * Ajogwu Fabian (2013), ''Law & Society Eds. Center for Commercial Law Development'' (CCLD), Lagos, Nigeria (Published to marked 20th Anniversary of the firm)

Contributions to Legal Jurisprudence

The firm continues to represent Nigerian Government on some notable cases and has made other key contributions to the legal

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, among which includes: * BPE Opposes motion to stop power station privatization. * Sanusi vs

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Nigeri ...

(suspended Governor of

Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are ...

) *

ECOWAS Court The ECOWAS Court of Justice is an organ of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional integration community of 15 member states in Western Africa. It was created pursuant to the provisions of Articles 6 and 15 of the Revise ...

Dismisses N84 Billion Suit Against the Federal Govt * Served as Principal Consultants to Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on drafting Nigeria’s pioneer Code of Corporate Governance. * Contributed to the development of the pioneer

Nigerian Communications Commission The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is the independent regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The NCC was created under Decree number 75 by the Federal Military Government of Nigeria on 24 November 1992. The ...

(NCC) Code of Corporate Governance for the telecommunications sector. * Contributed to the development of the National Code of Corporate Governance issued by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN). * Supported the establishment of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN) * National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency vs

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

(Landmark) - A Regulatory Agency cannot impose fines without the Courts. * Industrial Training Fund v PAN Atlantic University (Landmark) - The Industrial Training Fund levies do not apply to universities * Hensmor Nigeria v

Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), formerly the National Maritime Authority (NMA) is responsible for regulations related to Nigerian shipping, maritime labor and coastal waters. The agency also undertakes inspections ...

(Landmark) - The Maritime regulator has the power to arrest vessels for non-seaworthiness

Social Responsibility

Kenna has a history of supporting charitable causes in the arts and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. In 2015, the firm supported the establishment of the AIFA Reading Society, a non-profit organisation committed to promoting literacy and a reading culture among children and adults in Nigeria and continues to support the causes of the organization. The firm also played a key role in the founding of the Society for Art Collection (SARTCOL), a charitable organization providing a platform for educated collection and promotion of the arts, in 2015. The firm was also involved in the founding of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria in 2005. The firm also supports various student-driven initiatives and periodically awards scholarships to recipients, through the Kenna Foundation and Fabian Ajogwu Foundation. The firm is pro-green and actively promotes green practices. The firm was involved in the establishment of corporate governance forum, The Governance Platform in 2023. Kenna has shown support to the Lagos Business School over the years with firm members hosting sessions on business law, governance, negotiation & ethics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenna Partners Law firms of Nigeria Companies based in Lagos Nigerian companies established in 1993 Law firms established in 1993