SESAN SOBOWALE, FCIS
My name is Sesan Sobowale, a Fellow of our Institute and currently a member of the Governing Council. I qualified as a GradMember of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) in 2007 and was admitted as an Associate of the Institute in 2008.
Professionally, I was Company Secretary of Guinness Nigeria Plc for ten (10) years from 2006 to 2016. I was also the company’s Legal Adviser for six (6) years and the Corporate Relations Director for six (6) years – many times combining two or three of the roles. I am currently Head, Legal Services at Union Bank of Nigeria Plc where as the Chief Legal Officer, I lead a team providing legal advisory and transactional services to one of the oldest and iconic banking brands in Nigeria.
I qualified as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in December 1990. I spent over 13 years in commercial legal experience in some of Nigeria’s leading commercial law firms including G. M. Ibru & Co., Udo-Udoma & Bello-Osagie and the Law Union. I have over 30 years hands on professional and senior business leadership experience spanning commercial legal practice, telecommunications, FMCG and banking and financial services.
I am also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. I am also currently chair of the Association of Banks’ Legal Advisers and Company Secretaries (ABLACS) and a non-executive director of Unique Venture Capital Management Company Limited, a private equity business, established 3 of Nigeria’s leading banks in 2005 to manage their Small and Medium Enterprise Equity Investment Scheme (SMEEIS) Fund.
At ICSAN, I have been a member of the Library Refurbishment Committee, an ad-hoc Committee comprising member of the graduating class of 2008 set up by the then President to raise funds to improve the Institute’s Library. I have also served as a member of the Public Lecture Committee, which I currently chair and a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee of the Institute. I have also been a participant and speaker at several programmes of the Institute at the National and Lagos State levels.
If elected to serve another term on the Governing Council of our Institute, I promise to continue to contribute my skills, experience and network to the growth and development of the Institute and to leave the organisation better than I met it when I first accepted to serve on the Governing Council.
I look forward to your support at this year’s election to enable me to serve another term on the Council.