Akpata, NBA-SBL, Others  Honoured at 5th PEBEC Awards

Innocent  Megbolu

The immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Senior Partner at Templars Law Firm, Mr. Olumide Akpata, has been awarded for Legislative Reform Support.

Akpata received the award recently at the 2023 Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Awards ceremony, which was held at the Old Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja.

The PEBEC Awards were created to recognise and honour Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), state governments, and private-sector stakeholders who have contributed significantly to the ease of doing business interventions in Nigeria.

Akpata and the NBA Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) were honoured for their landmark interventions in collaborating with the PEBEC secretariat to work on signature pieces of legislation, including the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020, the Business Facilitation Act, among other initiatives that have contributed to the ease of doing business in Nigeria and Nigeria’s rise in the now rested World Bank Ease of Doing Business Rankings.

Before emerging as NBA president in 2020, Akpata served a single two-year tenure as chairman of the NBA-SBL, a special arm of the NBA which engenders the development of commercial law and specialised commercial law practice in Nigeria. 

His administration witnessed several highlights, including establishing a partnership between NBA-SBL and PEBEC on the ease of doing business in Nigeria. 

The partnership involved the review of extant laws and regulations and the monitoring of the productivity and response time of MDAs, including the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), among others.