Joining issues with the Rivers State Sole Administrator, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas on his demand for a refund of the N300 million given to it by the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fbara for the hosting of its Annual General Conference hitherto scheduled for the state, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) on Monday insisted it would not return the money to an unconstitutional government.
A member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Citizens’ Liberties Committee, Deji Adeyanju, clarified that the N300 million received from the Rivers State Government was not a hosting rights fee for the NBA’s Annual General Conference (AGC) as presented to the public by Ibas.
Adeyanju’s response was in reaction to the backlash trailing the NBA’s decision to move the conference to Enugu State in its bid not to confer legitimacy on the state of emergency in the state which it had criticised as unconstitutional.
Ibas had earlier on Monday questioned the integrity of the NBA in holding onto the money after withdrawing the conference from the state and suggested that unmet financial commitments influenced its decision.
But dismissing the claims, Adeyanju asserted that the NBA’s choice of venue was based solely on infrastructure, logistics, security, and general suitability—not on financial donations or political considerations.
He posited that the N300 million was contributed under a constitutionally elected government and that the NBA would not lend legitimacy to what he described as the current “unconstitutional” governance model in Rivers State.
According to him, “The concept of hosting rights, as suggested by the Sole Administrator, has no basis in NBA tradition. There is no bidding or contractual process that grants any state the right to host the AGC”.
While emphasising that the NBA remains an independent institution with a duty to uphold national service and legal development, “not an entity that auctions its conference to the highest bidder”, Adeyanju disclosed that “The 2023 AGC in Abuja received no funding from the FCT”.
He said, “The idea that donations can buy hosting rights is harmful to the profession’s integrity”.
Further clarifying that the NBA’s withdrawal from Rivers was necessary to avoid endorsing a governance arrangement widely viewed as unconstitutional by the legal community, Adeyanju contended that “This is not a rejection of the people of Rivers or their lawyers—they remain our colleagues. But as defenders of the Constitution, we must stand firm against unconstitutional governance”.
Insisting that the decision to relocate the AGC wiould not be reversed despite public pressure or political backlash, Adeyanju reaffirmed the NBA’s commitment to the rule of law and democratic principles.