Olumide Akpata was born on the 7 of October 1972 in Warri, Delta State. His early education was in Warri and he went on to attend the King’s College Lagos. Afterwards, he attended the University of Benin where he studied Law, graduated in 1992 and was called to bar in 1993.
Subsequently, he began his career with his Youth Service under Dr. Mudiaga Odje & Co in Warri. After, he relocated to Lagos in 1996 and with his cousin Oghogho Akpata, set up the law firm Templars. In almost 25 years, Templars has grown into a world-class, multi-sectoral, full service law firm.
Currently, Akpata is the Senior Partner and Head of the Corporate and Commercial Practice Group of Templars. The division basically deals in the practice areas of Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Markets; Corporate Law; Labour and Employment; Immigrations; Telecommunications; Media Entertainment and Technology; Regulatory Compliance. Likewise, in over 20 years at the firm, Olumide Akpata has practiced across all areas of service within the law firm.
Top 5 Accomplishments
- Nigerian Bar Association: In July 2020, he defeated two Senior Advocates of Nigeria in a landslide victory to become the President-Elect of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)
- United Nations: The United Nations Nigerian Humanitarian Fund – Private Sector Initiative recently nominated Olumide Akpata as a pioneer member of its steering group of the alongside other leaders of the Nigerian business community.
- Power Sector: He advised the National Bureau of Public services on the restructuring and unbundling of the defunct National Electric Power Authority. He also advised Azura Power West Africa on the pioneering development an dfonancing of the $1billion greenfield independent power plant in Edo state, Nigeria.
- Mergers and Acquisitions: He advised General Electric on the strategic acquisition that established GE’s oil and gas operations in Nigeria. He also advised Diamond Bank Plc in its merger with Access Bank Plc which resulted in the formation of Africa’s Largest retail bank.
- Technology: He advised Google Inc on the deployment of Google Street View in Nigeria. Google Map and Google earth incorporates this technology in their operations to provide interactive streets views across the planet.