Olumide Osaigbovo Akpata (born 7 October 1972, from Edo South Senatorial district, Edo State) is a Nigerian legal practitioner and politician. He was a senior partner and the head of the Corporate and Commercial Practice Group at Templars law firm in Nigeria until his resignation on 31 August 2023 to enable him to pursue partisan politics. In September 2023, he hosted the program "KingsWeek 2023" with the Old Boys Association,

King's College, Lagos King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only boys as pupils, although prior to ...

. He became the first non-Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 28 years to be elected president of the

Nigerian Bar Association The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of lawyers admitted to the Bar by the Council of Legal Education in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and ...

in July 2020.

Early life

Akpata was born on 7 October 1972, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He started his educational journey at Nana Primary School in Warri, then moved on to Federal Government College, Warri and later King's College in Lagos. He obtained a bachelor's degree in law from University of Benin,

Edo state Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

in 1992 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1993. He served in the National Youth Service Corps in Kano State.

Career

Akpata began his legal practice in

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

under the tutelage of Mudiaga Odje. In 1996, Akpata relocated to

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and teamed up with his cousin, Oghogho Akpata, who had just set up the law firm Templars the previous year. Akpata is currently senior partner and head of the Corporate & Commercial Practice Group of Templars. He was chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL). On 30 July 2020, he was elected as the president of the

after winning the election against Babatunde Ajibade and Dele Adesina. He was the Labour Party's governorship candidate in the Edo 2024 election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akpata, Olumide 1972 births People from Edo State Living people Nigerian jurists University of Benin (Nigeria) alumni King's College, Lagos alumni

Early life

Career

See also

References