Akpata, NBA-SBL, Others Honoured at PEBEC Awards

Templars Senior Partner and the immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olumide Akpata, has been presented with an award of recognition for Legislative Reform Support by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

It was presented on the occasion of the 2023 PEBEC awards ceremony, which held at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.

The PEBEC awards were created to recognise and honour ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs), state governments, as well as private sector stakeholders who have made significant contributions to the ease of doing business interventions in Nigeria.

The 2023 awards ceremony, which was the fifth in the series, was attended by the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), and other top functionaries of government both at national and sub-national levels.

Akpata and the Nigerian Bar Association’s 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 such as the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) 2020, the Business Facilitation Act and a host of other landmark legislations and initiatives that have contributed to the ease of doing business in Nigeria and Nigeria’s rise in the now discontinued World Bank Ease of Doing Business Rankings.

Prior to his emergence as the President of the NBA in 2020, Mr. Akpata had previously served a single two-year tenure as the chairman of the NBA-SBL and his administration witnessed several highlights, including the establishment of a partnership between NBA-SBL and PEBEC on the ease of doing business in Nigeria, which involved the review of extant laws and regulations and the monitoring of the productivity and response time of MDA’s, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and others.

Other dignitaries honoured at the event include, past SBL chairmen, Seni Adio (SAN) and Ayuli Jemide, while Vice President Osinbajo, SAN was presented with the Pioneer Catalyst Award for ease of doing business in Nigeria