Olisa Metuh is a Nigerian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, he was the National Publicity Secretary of the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

from 2012 to 2016.

Early life and career

Chief Olisa Metuh was born at Otolo,

Nnewi North Nnewi North is a Local Government Area in Anambra State, south-central Nigeria. Nnewi is the only town in Nnewi North LGA. It has four villages (sub-towns) that make up the one-town local government, which includes; Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim and Nnewi- ...

, in

Anambra State Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State ...

, southeastern Nigeria. He obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in Enugu State and was called to the

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 situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n bar in 1988. He began his law career at Olisianunba Chambers, a law firm owned by his father. In 1990, he established a partnership firm called Metuh, Okafor & Associates, where he served as the managing solicitor. In 1991, he was appointed as the chairman of Legend Properties Limited, a property management firm. He later registered as an Investment Adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 1996, he established a Law Firm, Olisa Metuh and Co, to provide services in legal practice, real estate and share acquisitions.

Political life

He began his political career as the coordinator of the Igbo United Congress. While serving in that capacity, he was also a member of the finance committee of People's National Forum (PNF). He served as a pioneer member of the national finance committee of the

. In November 1999, at the first National Convention of the PDP, he was elected as ex officio member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. He later acted as the secretary of the National Peace and Reconciliatory Committee of the party for two years. In 2002, he was appointed as the chairman of the Cross River State Electoral Panel. He was later appointed as member of the

constitution review panel. In 2006, he became the chairman of

Abia State Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the ...

electoral panel and also took part in the supervision of all the primaries in

. In 2007, he was appointed as national auditor and member of the party's National Working Committee (NWC) He was later elected as the national vice chairman of the Party for Southeast zone. He served as the national publicity secretary of the

between 2013 and 2015 when the party lost federal power to the opposition

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

, APC.

Arrest

On 5 January 2016, Olisa Metuh was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), answering questions regarding some fund (Arms Deal) said to have been traced to his firm. ”From the records, Metuh got over N400 million, he has not said anything because we need the public money to be returned so that it’s going to be used for public good,” Mr. Magu said during a meeting with online media publishers in Lagos. On 5 February 2018, Olisa Metuh arrived at the Federal high court in Abuja in an ambulance. He was absent when the case was heard the previous week.

Professional bodies

*Member of the

Nigerian Bar Association 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 ...

*Member of the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associat ...

*Member of the Association of Business Lawyers of Nigeria.

References

External links