By Chioma Obinagwam
Honourable Justice Ayotunde Phillips, retired Chief Judge of Lagos State, will chair the 13th Anniversary Lecture of Realnews Magazine Online, the publication announced Tuesday.
The company told Confiance News in a statement on Tuesday.
The lecture, titled “Cybersecurity, Illicit Financial Flows and Achieving Agenda 2063 in Africa,” is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Isaac John, Ikeja GRA, Lagos.
Justice Phillips, who also served as chairperson of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) from 2016 to 2021, confirmed her acceptance in a message dated September 22, 2025, stating: “It is my honour to chair such a distinguished event.”
She will also moderate the panel discussion.
A second-generation jurist born in London in 1949 to the late Justice James Oladipo Williams, Phillips retired from the Lagos High Court bench in 2014 after 20 years of judicial service and a 38-year career in public service. She was sworn in as the 14th Chief Judge of Lagos State—the fourth woman to hold the position—on June 14, 2012.
Her distinguished career includes serving as probate judge (2001–2004), administrative judge of the Ikeja Judicial Division (2009–2010), and chairperson of the Lagos Settlement Week (2010–2012). She has also sat on election petition tribunals in Rivers and Adamawa states and chaired a 1999 panel probing the sale of Lagos State shares in Eko Hotels Ltd.
Beyond the bench, Phillips is a member of the FIFA Ethics Committee (Adjudicatory Chamber), re-elected for a third four-year term, and holds leadership roles in arbitration and judicial organizations, including the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Nigerian Institute of Arbitrators, and the Association of Multi-Door Courthouses of Nigeria.
She currently serves as Deputy Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Lagos West.
Realnews, an investigative online magazine focused on oil, gas, and societal challenges, established the annual lecture series to engage leading thinkers on national development. Past speakers include former President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, and Professor Chukwuma Soludo.
The 12th lecture was delivered by Gambari, former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
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