DIMEJI SARUMI
Dimeji is a Senior Associate with Hightower Solicitors & Advocates and has advised A-List artistes, producers and record labels on contract negotiations and their respective rights including but not limited to Recording Agreements, Producer Agreements, Management Agreements Distribution Agreements 360 Agreements, amongst others.
Dimeji also specialises in commercial law - in particular, commercial litigation and arbitration; he is a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution, Construction and Real Estate practices. He has a wealth of experience in Entertainment Law, Commercial Litigation, Taxation, Banking and Finance, Labour and Industrial Relations, Energy and Arbitration. He has also been involved in complex commercial litigation matters and advised clients in various superior courts of record in Nigeria. Dimeji’s capabilities are reflected through clients’ results from various superior courts of record in Nigeria.
Dimeji has been an integral part of the team handling all the firm’s dispute resolution matters. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria
Dimeji successfully represented an A-List artiste in an international entertainment dispute which cut across three jurisdictions (Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States of America). The dispute was eventually resolved through a mediation with its seat in London.
Some of the notable cases Dimeji has been involved in are highlighted below:
- A member of the team that successfully represented Gaslink in Gaslink Nigeria Ltd. v Reliance Textile Industries Ltd.
- A member of the team that successfully represented a multinational oil corporation over an OML ownership dispute worth US$400 million. This case serves as the most authoritative in Nigeria presently, on the principle that ministerial consent is required before a transfer of shares in an oil company can become effective.
- A member of the team that recovered N16Billion on behalf of Access Bank in a highly controversial multijurisdictional dispute against a Nigerian oil and gas company. The dispute involved multiple complex cases: eight (8) in Nigeria and a few others spanning over a number of jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Greece, Netherlands and South Africa.
- A member of the team that successfully represented the immediate past Group Managing Director of a tier one bank and the current Group Managing Director of the bank in a suit against the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (“FRCN”). The suit challenged the statutory powers of the FRCN to investigate issues of mergers and acquisitions and other business combinations and in particular the acquisition of IBPLC by Access Bank. This case firmly affirmed the statutory position in Nigeria, that only the Central Bank of Nigeria has the power to regulate or review acquisition of banks by other banks or to regulate banking transactions.
- A member of the team that successfully defended Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in arbitral proceedings against the Lagos State Government over a Barge Power Purchase Agreement and Contribution Agreement