Mr Olumide Akpata, beat two Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Julius Oladele Adesina and Dr Babatunde Ajibade to emerge as as President of the Nigerian Bar Association in the recently conducted election of the Association.
Akpata is succeeding Paul Usoro.
The three NBA presidential candidates and the outgoing presidents are all products of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife.
According to the information gathered, in the election conducted electronically, the new President scored 9,891 votes, representing 54.3 per cent of the votes cast, Ajibade, who came second, scored 4,328 votes while Adesina polled 3,982 votes.
The voting pattern seems to be revolutionary as the Association has made it a tradition that only SAN can emerged the president of the Association since 1989.
Commenting on the emergence of Akpata as NBA President, former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakah said, “Akpata’s victory at the just concluded NBA Association elections is a proof that real power lies with the people. Congratulations, I am confident you will do well and also deliver convincingly on the mandate of which you now carry”.
In a recent development, one of the Presidential contestants, Ajibade has congratulated the new NBA President saying, “I have called Mr. Olumide Akpata and congratulated him on his election as the 30th President of our great association, the Nigerian Bar Association, in the elections held on 29th – 30th July 2020.
He said, “As a co-contestant in the elections, I am proud of the level of the debate and the quality of the ideas that were brought forth, for the improvement of our association, the welfare of its members and the good of our society. It is unfortunate that the process leading up to and during the election itself has, once again, not been devoid of controversy”.
“It is my fervent hope that we will get over these repeated challenges with conducting objectively free and fair elections into the leadership positions in the association. I remain resolute in my belief that we cannot succeed in addressing the challenges confronting our profession unless we unite and I urge the incoming President and his executive to take deliberate and proactive steps to unite the Bar”, he concluded.
According to information obtained from Akpata website, he is a Partner in the Corporate and Commercial Practice Group of the Firm and he is currently the Head of that Group.
He is admitted to practice in Nigeria and has over two decades of experience in advising clients on various aspects of Nigerian Corporate and Commercial Law.
He has been recognised by IFLR 1000 as a leading Mergers & Acquisition lawyer in Nigeria and by Chambers and Partners “as having long experience in representing foreign clients” in his area of practice.
He regularly advises local and international corporations on the impact of Nigerian Law on their investments and/or operations in Nigeria particularly regarding: the establishment of local subsidiaries, corporate governance and compliance, mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring, labour and immigration, regulatory issues and tax.
Olu is often called upon to speak at local and international conferences and seminars and currently sits on the Council of the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law. He is also the Vice-Chair (West-Africa) of the International Bar Association’s Africa Regional Forum.
He has advised on several key transactions:
Olumide advised on the Nigerian Bureau of Public Enterprises’ restructuring of the Nigerian Electricity sector and the unbundling of the national power utility.
He has advised on international joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, takeovers and also the world’s second largest port operator in its bid for the Apapa Container Terminal concession.
Olumide advises several local and international clients on regulatory compliance in relation to company law and practice in Nigeria.
He acts for several clients on a wide range of Immigration and Labour matters including the setting up of private pension schemes, employment contracts and general immigration compliance.
