Published with license by Koninklijke Brill BV | doi:10.1163/17087384-12340115 © Kenneth Ikechukwu Ajibo et al., 2025 | ISSN: 1708-7384 ( online) African Journal of Legal Studies 17 (2025) 220–244 brill.com/ajls A Legal Critique of the Role of a Company Secretary in Corporate Governance in Nigeria Kenneth Ikechukwu Ajibo | ORCID: 0000-0002-3609-0218 Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Nigeria kajibo@gouni.edu.ng Oluchukwu Precious Obioma | ORCID: 0000-0002-3136-1306 Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria Corresponding author oluchukwu.obioma@unn.edu.ng Etoroabasi Godfrey Akpabio Legal Adviser, Saros International Learning Centre, Abuja, Nigeria akpabioetoroabasi@gmail.com Received 9 September 2024 | Accepted 20 March 2025 | Published online 7 May 2025 Abstract A company secretary was traditionally viewed as a mere servant with no more than a clerical and administrative role. However, that narrative has shifted with the pleth- ora of statutory and judicial recognition of the secretary as an officer of a company with clearly defined roles. A company secretary is expected to function as a corpo- rate governance officer in addition to handling secretarial and administrative tasks. This expanded position requires wider professional skills and competencies to handle evolving duties. In Nigeria, the company secretary is controlled by the board of direc- tors, which has the power to hire and fire under the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020. This paper critically analyses these responsibilities and strict restric- tions imposed by the CAMA on a company secretary. It uses a doctrinal approach to argue that the tendency of the secretary to protect the board’s interests at the expense of stakeholders is a serious flaw in Nigerian company law. Comparatively, the role of the company secretary in the United Kingdom is more balanced and established than in Nigeria. The paper recommends the amendment of the CAMA to make the