Rita Martin-Onovo is an accomplished legal professional with over twenty (20) years’ broad and in-depth experience in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Prior to joining Pinnacle Oil and Gas, to lead the Legal and Compliance Department as General Counsel, Rita was with Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation, and she brought to Pinnacle Oil and Gas, her cross-border experience in corporate governance advisory, local and international litigation management, strategic business (process and controls) advisory, legal strategy development, ethics policy formulation, due diligence, risks management, commercial contracts negotiations and drafting, dispute resolution, expertise in regulatory compliance and governmental relations management, compliance policy making strategies, amongst others.

Working at Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited as an In-House U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act “FCPA” Consultant, afforded Rita the opportunity to showcase her mastery in the development of regulatory compliance best practices across Upstream Nigeria business and operations. Through trainings of over 2000 Personnel annually, she was successful in maintaining Anti-Corruption and Antitrust Compliance awareness and recorded compliance policies’ implementation across all functions.

In resolving the complex dynamics between business purpose, profit and risk, Rita was part of the exceptional legal team that negotiated and drafted the Exploration and Production Operations Contracts for projects including but not limited to, Natural Gas Monetization/Unitization Projects in Nigeria (Bonny IPP, NGL, Flare Reduction Initiatives). She provided legal support on Projects Financing, including alternative funding to the Nigerian Government participation in Joint Ventures and was awarded the “Employee of the Year’’ Award in the Law Department of ExxonMobil for three (3) consecutive years.

In her current role, Rita is the General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer at Pinnacle Oil and Gas and is responsible for providing leadership in all matters relating to general legal advisory, strengthening regulatory compliance culture across all Units, litigation management, and governmental affairs management.

Rita holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL. B) Degree from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria and a Diploma Degree in Anti-Corruption Compliance from the West Africa Regional Training Centre (RTC), Accra, Ghana. She was conferred Barrister-at-Law (BL) certification by the Nigerian Law School, Abuja, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2001. She has also attended several executive management programs ranging but not limited to Anti-Corruption Compliance and Industry Process & Controls Implementation.

Rita is passionate for excellence and has garnered significant number of awards and certifications. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the International Federation of Female Lawyers Association (FIDA).