Razak Atunwa

Rt. Hon. Razak Atunwa Esq
Honourable Member, House of Representatives, Nigeria
Personal details
Born 17 October 1969
Political party All Progressives Congress (APC)

Razak Atunwa, (born 17 October 1969) Honourable Member, House of Representatives (Nigeria). He was the Honourable Speaker Kwara State House of Assembly, Nigeria 2011-2015.[1] He was a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) between 2002 and 2014. On 22 January 2014 he formally announced his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). On 28 March 2015 he was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives to represent Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency. He is the Chairman, House Committee on Justice and currently also heading the House Committee investigating corruption in the award of Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245. He is also an avid aviator, having qualified as a Pilot both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Law career

Rt. Hon. Razak Atunwa holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (Hons), and a Master of Laws degree, Public International Law (Lond). He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in October 1994 by the Inner Temple Inns of Court.

As a barrister practising from Chambers in London, he specialised in criminal defence and international law cases. He appeared in a number of notable and high-profile cases (reported in various Law Reports), including:

  • AIC Ltd v Federal Government of Nigeria: [2003] EWHC 1357 (QB) {on Sovereign Immunity and Civil Enforcement of Foreign Judgment}
  • Murphy Shipping v Burt: [2004] All ER (D) 287 {on Worldwide Freezing Injunction}
  • Mark v Mark:[2] [2005] UKHL 42 [House of Lords] {on Illegality of Stay, Domicile and Habitual Residence}
  • Attorney General of Zambia v Meer Care Desai, Chiluba and Others: [2005] EWHC 2102 (Ch) {on international confiscation of proceeds of money laundering (former President Chiluba of Zambia)}.

Political career

In 2005 Atunwa moved to Nigeria to commence his political career. In August 2005, he was appointed the Honourable Commissioner for Land and Housing of Kwara State. A year later in August 2006, he became Honourable Commissioner for Information and Home Affairs. In July 2007 he became Honourable Commissioner for Works and Transport. He was moved to the Ministry of Finance in November 2009.

In April 2011, Atunwa was elected into the Kwara State House of Assembly to represent Owode/Onire Constituency of Asa Local Government, Kwara State, Nigeria

On 6 June 2011, he was unanimously elected as Honourable Speaker of Kwara State House of Assembly.

He renounced his membership of the PDP and formally announced his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on 22 January 2014 on the floor of the Kwara State House of Assembly.

Having contested in the 2015 Nigeria General Elections, he was elected to the national parliament as a Member of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly to represent Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency.

References

  1. ↑ "Executive Council - Kwara State Government". Kwara State Government. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "Judgments - Mark (Respondent) v. Mark (Appellant)". House of Lords. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
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