Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd)
The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Etteh Ibas, has lambasted the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for holding onto the N300m paid by the state as hosting right for the body’s 2025 Annual General Conference.
The sole administrator carpeted the NBA for seeking to benefit from a state it publicly discredited.
Newsmata.com.ng recalls that the NBA had shifted the venue of its conference from Rivers State to Enugu because of its position on the state of emergency foisted on the state by President Bola Tinubu on March 18, and the appointment of Ibas as sole administrator, actions it described as unconstitutional.
Demanding the refund of the money in his reaction to the relocation of the NBA confab, Ibas said, “While we respect the NBA’s right to choose its conference venues, we find it curious that the association – despite its ‘principled position’ – has not addressed the refund of the N300 million already paid by the Rivers State Government for the hosting rights of the 2025 conference.”
According to him, “If the NBA truly stands on principle, it should demonstrate the same integrity by promptly returning these funds rather than benefiting from a state it now publicly discredits”.