Pius Ukeyima Akutah

Pius Ukeyima Akutah (born June 7, 1970) is a Nigerian legal practitioner and public servant currently serving as the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Shippers' Council. He assumed office on October 25, 2023, succeeding Emmanuel Jime, and officially commenced his duties at the council's headquarters in Lagos on November 1, 2023.

Upon assuming office at the Nigerian Shippers Council, Akutah promised to build on the foundation laid by his predecessors. The council has taken steps to activate the cargo tracking note, promotion of port efficiency which is intended to reduce cargo clearance time from 48 hours to 24 hours and the introduction of an electronic traffic system.

The Nigerian Shippers Council has highlighted the implementation of payment processes from manual to automated systems within the council and underscored the benefits of registration to enhance having a database of genuine port service providers and users as well as knowing your customers policy.

Early life and education
Akutah was born in Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. He pursued his legal education at the University of Jos where he obtained a Diploma in Law and proceeded to University of Abuja, where he obtained his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 2006. He later attended the Nigeria Law School in Bwari, Abuja, and was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister at Law (BL) in May 2007. Subsequently, he obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree in Public International Law from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 2016.

Career
Before assuming his role at the Nigerian Shippers' Council, Akutah held various positions of increasing responsibility within the Nigerian legal system. He served as an assistant director at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja, where he headed the Central Authority Unit of the International Cooperation Department under the Office of The Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice.

Akutah also served as a prosecutor and was involved in the prosecution of several high-profile criminal cases including the extradition of some fugitives to different countries including the United Kingdom and United States of America. In 2022 he concluded a locus clasicus extradition case at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In August 2023 he concluded the extradition of two suspects involved in a new form of cybercrime tagged sextortion to face trial in the US.

Akutah contributed to the successful negotiation in November 2023 of Bilateral Agreements between Nigeria and other nations about Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition. He reviewed and endorsed the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA) and encouraged Nigerian states to adopt it. He also encouraged prosecutors to always have a ninety-nine percent assurance of winning before filing cases.

Akutah is an alumnus of the US Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and a chartered Mobile and Computer Forensics Examiner.

Community service
In 2020 Akutah drilled two boreholes separately at Tse-Yagba, Mkem, Tsambe and another in Tse – Yua in Mbaikyume, Mbagwaza district as a peace initiative aimed at resolving the conflict between the warring border communities of Tsambe in Vandeikya and Mbagwaza in Ushongo Local Government Areas.

In 2019, Akutah donated a furnished house to a centenarian in Mbagwaza, Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State who lived in a ruined thatched hut plagued by rain and sunrays. This gesture came after he had lost his primary election for House of Representatives.

Awards and recognition
Akutah is one of the five recipients of the 2017 Presidential Civil Service Merit Award, PCSMA. He was also conferred the National Honours Award as a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022.

Politics
Akutah is a politician and a member of the ruling All Progressive Congress, (APC). In 2019, he contested for House of Representative election in Kwande-Ushongo Federal Constituency where he lost at the primary election. He later contested for the 2023 Gubernatorial election in the same party but opted to step down for Rev. Hyacinth Alia who is the incumbent Governor.