Bayo Ojo

Christopher Adebayo Ojo heads the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice. He is a legal practitioner and is licensed to practice in Nigeria, England and Wales. He is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

He founded a legal firm, Bayo Ojo & Co. in 1986, and has won quite a number of high-profile cases.

Ojo hails from Ife-Ijumu, Kogi State, in the north of Nigeria. He had his primary school education in Maiduguri and Kaduna and his post-primary education at Zaria in Kaduna State. He worked briefly as a civil servant in Ilorin, Kwara State, before he proceeded to the University of Lagos (in Lagos) where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Law in June 1977. He was subsequently called to the Nigeria Bar in July 1978.

Ojo had his first solo court appearance as defence counsel in a rape case before Hon. Justice Anthony Iguh of the High Court of Justice, Enugu, in 1978. The case was a Legal Aid brief and Ojo lost it because of the overwhelming evidence against his client. He was then a member of the National Youth Service Corps.

He worked at the Ministry of Justice, Kwara State, as a state counsel for four years. During this period, he obtained a certificate in Legal Drafting from Royal Institute of Public Administration, London in September, 1981. There after, he proceeded to the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, to obtain LLM in September 1982. In March 1983, he opted out of government service to join the firm of Oniyangi & Co as head of chambers.

In 1986, he founded the law firm of Bayo Ojo & Co.

He was elected President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in 2004. Subsequently, he was appointed Attorney General and Minister for Justice by President Olusegun Obasanjo. This appointment was considered controversial at the time because there is a clause in the constitution of the NBA forbidding incubent presidents from seeking political appointments, or accepting such appointments where offered. Ojo was absolved of any wrong-doing at the time because he resigned the presidency of the NBA a day before his ministerial appointment was announced.

As of 2007, he is a member of the United Nations International Law Commission.

He is married to Folashade, and they have two children, Babatomiwa and Olubusola.