The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has confirmed that Ama Etuwewe, SAN, distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Chairman of the NBA Litigation Committee, will be among the keynote speakers at the 2025 NBA Annual General Conference, taking place in Enugu State.
He is billed to speak on Tuesday, 26 August 2025, on the topical subject “Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, Impact, Challenges, and Opportunities for Lawyers.”
Four years into the commencement of one of Nigeria’s most significant legislative reforms, the panel will explore the gains recorded under the PIA, the implementation challenges, and the rich opportunities it presents for legal practitioners, particularly in regulatory compliance, dispute resolution, governance, and industry engagement.
A respected figure in the legal profession, Ama Etuwewe, SAN, was elevated to the Inner Bar in July 2019, joining the select rank of 38 eminent lawyers conferred with the title that year. He is the principal partner at Ama Etuwewe & Co., a reputable Warri-based law firm located at 27 Gbiaye Street (Gottgunst Villa, 3rd Marine Gate), Delta State.
Beyond his courtroom advocacy, Etuwewe has played a strategic role in strengthening legal practice in Nigeria through his leadership as Chairman of the NBA Litigation Committee.
In that capacity, he has engaged in high-level interventions to defend the rights of lawyers and promote adherence to due process, most notably during a January 2025 NBA delegation’s visit to the Defence Headquarters, where he contributed to discussions on safeguarding the profession against unlawful interferences by security agencies.
His litigation portfolio includes acting for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in the landmark Mobil vs NMDPRA case, in which the Federal High Court granted a stay of action in 2023 ahead of an interlocutory hearing on 25 October that year.
In June 2024, he was also involved in the high-stakes matter of Pinnacle Communications Ltd v. CAC & Ors, bringing his advocacy skills to bear on procedural and substantive legal issues at the appellate level.
The 2025 NBA Annual General Conference, themed “Stand Out, Stand Tall”, is expected to attract legal minds from across Nigeria and beyond. Etuwewe’s session on the PIA promises to provide a clear-eyed evaluation of the law’s trajectory since 2021 and the expanding frontiers it opens for legal professionals in the oil and gas sector.
