Mr. Adeola Rahman Ipaye was born in Lagos on the 8th of June 1963. He studied at the University of Lagos where he graduated with B.A. (Hons) History (1984); LL.B. Hons (1988) and LL.M. (1991). He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989. Apart from passing both his law Degree and Bar Examinations in the Second Class Upper Division, Mr. Ipaye won the much coveted Chief Bayo Kuku’s prize for the Best Student in Oil and Gas Law at UNILAG in 1988.

After his call to Bar, Mr. Ipaye started his career as a legal practitioner and research co-ordinator in the law firm of Oditah, Adebiyi & Co., Ikoyi, Lagos before joining the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos as Assistant Lecturer in April 1992. He rose to the position of Senior Lecturer and was Sub Dean of Law between October 2000 and May 2001 when he took a leave of absence to serve in the Government of Lagos State.

Before joining the Lagos State Government, Mr. Ipaye had been active in teaching and conducting research into all aspects of Revenue Law and Tax Administration, having taught the subject at Diploma and undergraduate levels since 1992. He had also written several published papers and attended local and international conferences on taxation and other aspects of Commercial and Industrial Law. His other areas of interest include Constitutional Law, Law of Contract and Civil Litigation.

Mr. Ipaye was a Special Assistant (Legal Matters) to the Governor of Lagos State between June 2001 and May 2007. In that capacity he took a very active part in the State’s much acclaimed justice sector reforms and constitutional law litigations, working with the then Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. He was also a key participant in the process of overhauling the Lagos State tax administration and revenue structures. Consequently, in June 2007, he was appointed Special Adviser (Taxation & Revenue) to the Governor and a member of the State Executive Council. In this capacity, he led the effort to revamp the State Internal Revenue Service, curtail multiple taxation and enhance the efficiency of the State Tax Administrative machinery.

In June 2011, Mr. Ipaye was appointed Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. As Chief Law Officer, he took an active part in several Constitutional and Public Law litigation at the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court levels. He also pioneered several law reform efforts, including the introduction of community service, sexual and domestic offences response team, and the Public Interest Law Partnership, which enrolled several legal practitioners to offer free legal assistance to indigent persons in the State.

Mr. Ade Ipaye served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (2015-2023) and Chief of Staff to the Vice President, managing the political and administrative staff, as well as the day-to-day activities of the Vice President’s Office. On October 11, 2022, he was conferred with the National Honours of ‘Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic’ (OFR), in recognition of his service to the nation.

Mr. Ipaye is also a Notary Public for Nigeria and a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of Nigeria. In the course of his professional career, Mr. Ipaye has attended several legal and administrative courses, in Nigerian and international institutions, including several Conferences of the International Bar Association and the International Association of Prosecutors. He also attended the Comparative Tax Policy and Administration Course (2009) and the Driving Government Performance Course (2013) of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Massachusetts, USA.