Dr. Anthony Ikemefuna Idigbe is a Senior Partner at PUNUKA Attorneys & Solicitors. He has over 40 years of experience in corporate governance, insolvency, business restructuring, arbitration, dispute resolution, privatization, capital markets, mergers & acquisitions, and oil and gas. He was licensed to practice law in Nigeria in 1983 and Ontario, Canada, in June 2016. He was appointed Notary Public in 1989 and elevated to Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in July 2000. In 1982, he got his LL. B from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, LL.M from the University of Lagos, Akoka (1988), and MBA from Enugu State University of Science and Technology (1997). He holds another LL.M. in Construction and Arbitration Law from Robert Gordon University, Scotland (2012), and a GPLLM from the University of Toronto in 2015. He also has a doctorate in cross-border insolvency from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2022).      

Dr. Anthony is a member of the Board of Directors (Trustees) of the Canadian Association of Nigerian Lawyers (CANL); Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dominican University, Ibadan; Fellow of the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IOD), INSOL International, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London, the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN) and the International Bar Association (IBA). In addition, he is a member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA); Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA), International Chamber of Commerce, Nigeria (ICCN), American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and International Insolvency Institute (III).  

From 2017 – 2022, Dr. Anthony chaired Capital Hotel Plc (2017 – 2022) and is currently the Chairman of Ikeja Hotel Plc and The Tourist Company of Nigeria Plc, all listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). He is a director of Royal Exchange Plc, listed on NGX (July 15, 2003) and chaired the Statutory Audit Committee of Seplat Energy Plc, listed on NGX and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) from 2015 to 2023. He was elected the President of the Asaba Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ASACCIMA) in 2022 and President of the Delta Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (DACCIMA) on December 12, 2022. He was appointed the National Legal Adviser for the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) in May 2023. He holds a Corporate Director Certificate from Harvard Business School, a certificate in Blockchain Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Business from Emeritus Business School with MIT and Columbia Business School.   

Dr. Anthony founded the Capital Market Solicitors Association (CMSA). He chaired the 2017 Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Legal Profession Regulation Review Committee, which reviewed the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria. In 2013, he was appointed the National Coordinator for Nigeria, World Bank Global Forum of Law, Justice, and Development Project on Treatment of Shareholders’ Rights in Insolvency of Companies (2013 to 2014); and in 2012 a Member of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force set up by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. In addition, he chaired the Technical Drafting Committee for the Bill that became the Investment and Securities Act 2007. He recently chaired the review committee for the same law, resulting in the Investment and Securities Bill before the National Assembly. As a consultant to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, he and the now Hon Justice Nnamdi Dimgba drafted the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Bill now Act relating to anti-trust and competition law in Nigeria. 

Dr. Anthony drafted the IOD charter bill and was a member of the IOD charter committee that pursued the promulgation of the Chartered Institute of Directors, Nigeria (Establishment) Act 2023 into law. Also, he is an active facilitator for the IOD on members’ training. In addition, his book, The Legal Aspects of Capital Market Operation in Nigeria, 2nd edition, Distinct Universal Limited, Lagos, 2015 ISBN 978-33791-8-3, is a reference material for training and practice of corporate governance and capital market operations in Nigeria. In December 2022, Anthony won the Institute of Directors (IOD) Anofi Guobadia Award for Leadership and Excellence in Directorship.