Professor Paul Obo Idornigie, a University Scholar, holds a doctorate degree in International Commercial Arbitration; is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (London); Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK); Chartered Arbitrator and member of several professional bodies/institutions including London Court of International Arbitration, African Arbitration Association, Lagos Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, Lagos Court of Arbitration, Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Association of Law Teachers, International Bar Association and Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS).
He is also on the Approved Faculty List (Tutor), Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK; former Chairman, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Abuja Chapter and now the 2nd National Vice-Chairman, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Nigeria Branch. He is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Notary Public for Nigeria and an Author.
He taught previously at the University of Jos, Nigerian Law School, Abuja and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Abuja where he rose to the status of Acting Director General (equivalent to a Vice-Chancellor of a Nigerian University) He is presently a Professor of Commercial Law at Veritas University, Bwari, Abuja. He was General Counsel at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) – a statutory body responsible for the restructuring, privatization and commercialization of state-owned enterprises in Nigeria. He has published extensively in the areas of commercial (including investment treaty) arbitration, mediation/conciliation, corporate law, international investment law, law and procedure of meetings and corporate restructuring. He is a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Legal Expert. The publications are available at Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0597-4774.
He is a Consultant to the Nigerian Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drafting of International Investment Agreements (IIAs). The Committee produced the Nigeria Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). The Nigerian Model BIT is what was used to negotiate the now acclaimed Nigeria-Morocco BIT, 2016 and the Nigeria-Singapore BIT. He led the Technical Team that drafted the Nigerian Arbitration and Mediation Act, 2023.
He attended Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, Essex, UK; the University of Jos, Nigeria and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, Nigeria.
He is listed as an Arbitrator in the Arbitration Review Tool (ART) of the Global Arbitration Review (GAR) available at https://globalarbitrationreview.com/tools/arbitrator-research-tool/profile/4044/paul-obo-idornigie-san. He is also listed in the Directory of African International Arbitrators (DAIA) available at <https://africanarbitrationatlas.org/arbitrator/prof-paul-idornigie-san/>.