By Adedapo Adesanya
Mr Olumide Akpata has emerged as the next president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) following Thursday’s election.
This was disclosed by Mr Taiwo Taiwo, Chairman of the NBA Electoral Committee, who noted that Mr Akpata won the election with over 50 per cent of the total votes cast.
His rivals for the office of the NBA president were Mr Dele Adesina (SAN) and Mr Babatunde Ajibade (SAN).
Mr Akpata, who is not a Senior Advocate, beat the other two candidates and this makes him the first non-SAN NBA president in years.
Mr Akpata won the election with a total of 9,891 votes of the total 18,256 ballots cast, while his closest rival, Mr Babatunde Ajibade (SAN) polled 4,328 votes, with Mr Dele Adesina (SAN) polling 3,982 votes.
Other winners are Mr John Martin for NBA first Vice President; Second Vice President, Mr Adeyemo Kazeem; General Secretary, Mrs Joyce Oduah; Assistant Secretary, Mrs Uchenna Nwadialo; Mr Olukunle Edun, Welfare Secretary; Mr Rapulu Nduka, Publicity Secretary; and Assistant Publicity Secretary, Mr Naza Afam.
The new NBA president is a Senior Partner and Head of the Corporate and Commercial Practice Group at Templars Law Firm.
He was born on October 7, 1972, and attended King’s College in Lagos. He was called to the Nigerian bar on December 15, 1993, after obtaining his law degree from the University of Benin the previous year.
He was elected as Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Business Law (SBL) council in January 2012, and subsequently as the vice-chairman in August 2014, before emerging as the Chairman in August 2016.
After handing over to his successor, he still sits on the council of the NBA-SBL and is also the Vice-Chair (West-Africa) of the International Bar.
He advises on various aspects of Nigerian corporate and commercial law, including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, corporate law, labour and employment, media entertainment, technology, and regulatory compliance.
