Emmanuel Onyeabor

Emmanuel Onyeabor is a seasoned legal and tax professional with ten (10) years’ extensive cognate experience in legal and tax academia, corporate governance, and commercial legal practice. His legal expertise cuts across taxation; employment; competition; financial technology; international trade; commercial disputes resolution; government and regulatory services; telecommunications; and military law. Emmanuel is the Deputy Managing Partner at Phoenix Attorneys, a full-service commercial law firm in Nigeria. Prior to joining Phoenix Attorneys as Deputy Managing Partner, Emmanuel was a Senior Associate and the Tax Team Lead at Banwo & Ighodalo – a leading commercial law firm in Nigeria. He has a decade’s worth of extensive cognate experience in conducting advanced legal and tax research, and in providing a wide range of tailored tax (and business advisory), transactional support, employment, competition, and commercial disputes resolution services to various local and international clients. Emmanuel has been recognized thrice as a “Rising Star” Leader for General Corporate Tax in the International Tax Review (ITR) Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) World Tax Practitioners Rankings 2023 to 2025. He was also shortlisted for the Transfer Pricing and Indirect Tax Law Firm Rising Star awards on the ITR EMEA Tax Awards 2024 Shortlist. Emmanuel is a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree candidate in taxation and finance at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Canada, where he conducts his doctoral research both as a Killam Scholar and as a Nova Scotia Graduate Scholar. His doctoral research focuses on crafting an effective policy framework for decentralized financial regulation and crypto assets taxation in Canada. Emmanuel holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in international tax law and policy from Dalhousie University, where his LLM thesis explored practical alternatives to unilateral digital tax measures in developing and emerging economies. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Nigeria, where his LLB thesis focused on taxation of religious entities in Nigeria. Emmanuel holds professional memberships of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), and the Employment and Labour Lawyers Association of Nigeria (ELLAN). He is also an Academic Collaborator with the Association of Digital Assets and Blockchain Accountants (ADABA), Canada Chapter and holds student memberships of both the Canadian Tax Foundation (CTF) and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA).