A STERLING REPUTATION BUILT ON PASSION FOR EXCELLENCE
Wole Obayomi is a resourceful, visionary, purpose-driven and public-spirited thought leader, and a high performing consummate business professional with wide-ranging experience and track record of advising clients in the public and private sectors on tax, legal, regulatory, institutional, and business issues.
He practised as a barrister in Nigerian courts for 5 years before switching his career to join Arthur Andersen in 1990 where he became a Partner and Head of Business Regulatory Services in 2001. He joined KPMG as a Partner in 2003 and served as the firm’s Consumer & Industrial Markets industry leader and Group Head of Tax for the firm’s Consumer & Industrial Markets (2007-2016) and Head of Tax, Regulatory & People Services practice of the firm (2016 to 2022).
As General Counsel for KPMG in Nigeria (2003-2016), Wole supervised the firm’s legal function and was, in this capacity, responsible for designing the framework and developing the strategies for managing the firm’s legal and regulatory risks.
He was a member of KPMG Global Tax Policy Committee, KPMG EMA Region Tax & Legal Steering Group and KPMG Africa Head of Tax from 2018 to 2023. In this capacity, he drove Africa region’s implementation of KPMG’s Global and Regional Tax & Legal Strategy and led the Africa member firms to deliver seamless service to the firm’s Pan-African and Global clients in the region.
Wole is a recognized thought leader and was at various times a resource person, keynote speaker, panelist, and moderator at many local and international forums. He has written extensively on diverse tax, legal, and business regulatory issues, and has been instrumental to some notable policy, tax, legal, fiscal, regulatory and institutional reforms in Nigeria. He has a broad-based technical and business advisory and management skills coupled with exceptional leadership and soft skills competencies acquired in his 33 years’ distinguished career in two premier multidisciplinary professional services firms.
Wole was educated at the University of Lagos where he obtained both a Bachelor of Laws (1984) and a Master of Laws (1989) degree, and was a British Chevening Scholar at the Warwick University, UK where he bagged LL.M (Distinction) in International Economic Law (1998-1999). He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, UK & Nigeria Chartered Institute of Arbitration, and Fellow, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
Core Expertise
Commercial business, not-for-profit organization & regulatory agency start-up; Tax Compliance & Advisory; Regulatory Compliance & Advisory; Contract structuring for tax efficiency; Corporate restructuring and M&A deal structuring; Private equity; Privatization & Commercialization of State-owned enterprises; Enterprise Risk Management; Company Secretarial & Corporate Governance; Enterprise transformation & change management; Consumer & Industrial Markets industry leadership; Business management; Project management; Strategic planning & execution; People leadership & development; Thought leadership; Advocacy for improving business environment; Corporate & commercial legal practice; Dispute Resolution – litigation, litigation management & negotiated dispute settlement.