Ituah is the Managing Partner at Kenna Partners and is responsible for overseeing the technical and professional standards of the practice of law leading to service excellence and optimum satisfaction of clients. He develops practice strategies, and case management, supervises legal work, and ensures compliance with ethical and professional standards. He is also responsible for the growth of the Firm’s clients and client service, for the continuous development of practice areas, and for placing the firm ahead and adapting to changes in the legal landscape.

Ituah also plays a pivotal role in coordinating the firm’s dispute Resolution and energy team. With a deep understanding of the Nigerian judicial system and business environment, he brings extensive experience in commercial litigation and arbitration to the firm. His wealth of energy litigation and advisory knowledge has earned him the opportunity to represent international oil and gas companies in varying energy disputes. Throughout his career, Ituah has successfully represented financial institutions, regulators, governments, and multinational corporations in numerous high-profile disputes. His legal acumen is particularly evident in his work with oil majors and indigenous oil companies, where he has handled a wide array of complex disputes, including oil spill cases and compensation claims. He has represented clients before Nigerian and international courts.

Ituah has experience in commercial arbitration and has served as an arbitrator on various arbitration panels, adjudicating disputes across different sectors. Additionally, mediation skills enable him to successfully broker settlements in disputes between a Nigerian and an international entity.

Ituah serves in various committees of the Nigerian Bar Association and is also actively involved in community and other professional engagements.

Relevant Experience

• Represented an international oil company in a significant litigation case concerning the interpretation of a novel provision of the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021.
• Provided strategic advisory services to an international oil company concerning a farm-out transaction valued over USD30,000,000 (Thirty Million United States Dollars).
• Represented an international oil company in a landmark oil spill litigation on the powers and validity of an administrative body to impose administrative fines.
• Represented a consortium of banks in a dispute regarding the validity or otherwise of a demand by the respective State Internal Revenue Services on alleged violations of the Personal Income Tax Act provision.
• Represented a State Government on the interpretation of the Nigerian Constitution on the basis for the recognition of a State as an oil-producing State in Nigeria.
• Represented the interest of a major shareholder in an international construction company in charting out a strategy for solving board disputes and ensuring that proper corporate governance principles are upheld in the company.
• Represented an international data communications company at a Mediation Tribunal in the United Arab Emirates.

Education

• LLM, University of Lagos, Nigeria
• B.L, Nigerian Law School, Nigeria
• LL.B (Honours), Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria
• Executive Education: Lagos Business School, Nigeria
• Executive Education: Chartered Institute of Arbitration (UK)
• Executive Education: Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Nigeria.

Executive Education

• Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
• Lagos Business School, Nigeria
• Chartered Institute of Arbitration (UK)
• Commercial Law Development Services, CLDS, Lagos, Nigeria

Bars

• Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria

Memberships

• Member, Nigerian Bar Association
• Member, Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (UK) (MCIArb.)
• Member, International Bar Association
• Member, AIFA Reading Society

Expertise

• Dispute Resolution
• Energy and Natural Resources
• Real Estate and Infrastructure
• Maritime and Transportation

Awards & Recognitions

• Kenna Partners Long Service Award 2016
• Principal Partner’s Award for Excellence 2013, Kenna Partners

Articles & Publications

• Ituah Imhanze and Damilola Raji, ‘The Future of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement’ (Journal of Commercial law Vol. 9 No. 1 April 2023).
• Imhanze, Ituah, ‘An Exposition of International Arbitration of Oil and Gas Investment Disputes’ (2018) Vol 13, No. 1 Journal of Arbitration, p 338.
• Imhanze, Ituah, ‘The State of Mind of Directors is the State of Mind of the Company: An Evaluation of the Judgment of the Court of Appeal in Batraco Ltd v Spring Bank Ltd’ (2017) Vol 9, No 2 Journal of Corporate Governance, p 1982.
• Imhanze, Ituah, ‘Party Appointed Arbitrators: Need to Maintain Neutrality’ (2017) Vol 3 No 1 Journal of Commercial Law, p 328.
• Imhanze, Ituah and Chinonye Nnaji, ‘A Critical Analysis of the Majority Rule and the Protection Afforded to Minority Shareholders under the Nigerian Company Law’ (2016) Vol 10, No 1 Journal of Corporate Governance, p 2147.
• Imhanze, Ituah, ‘Only Parties to a Contract Can Enforce It – A Review of the Supreme Court’s Judgment in Rebold Industries Limited v Mrs. Olubukola Magreola & Ors (2015) 8 NWLR (PART 1461) 210’ (2016) Vol 2 No 1 Journal of Commercial Law, p 107.
• Imhanze, Ituah (2015) The Role of Lawyers in Driving Compliance with Local Content in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry, University of Lagos.
• Imhanze, Ituah (2015) An evaluation of the Impacts of the Nigerian Environmental Law on the Petroleum Sector.
• Imhanze, Ituah, ‘Assessing Corporate Governance through Judicial Decisions’ (2014) Vol 6, No. 2 Journal of Corporate Governance, p 1042.
• Imhanze, Ituah, ‘The Doctrine of Lifting the Veil and Its Implication on Corporate Governance in Nigeria’ (2013) Vol 5, No. 2 Journal of Corporate Governance, p 823.