The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has replied Rivers State Sole Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas, following his demand for a refund of the N300 million paid to host the 2025 Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.
A statement issued on Monday by Emeka Obegolu, chairman of the NBA AGC planning committee, said the legal body did not sell the hosting rights for the conference.
Earlier, the Rivers government, under the leadership of Ibok-Ete Ibas, the sole administrator, asked the NBA to refund the N300 million allegedly paid for the “hosting rights” of the conference by the state.
The state government, in a statement issued on Monday by the senior special assistant on Media to the sole administrator, Hector Igbikiowubo, expressed disappointment over the NBA decision to change the venue of its conference.
The statement described the reasons given by the association for the decision as “misleading, uncharitable, and unbecoming.”
It acknowledged the NBA’s right to choose its preferred venue but faulted the association’s suggestion that the current administration, headed by a Sole Administrator, was undermining democracy and the rule of law.
The statement stated that the declaration of the emergency rule in the state was a “necessary response to a breakdown of public order and democratic processes”.
However, in response, the NBA said it did not sell hosting rights for the conference.
It explained that the money paid by Rivers State under the leadership of the suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was a gift.
“The attention of the Annual General Conference planning committee has been drawn to a statement credited to the Administrator of Rivers State to the effect that the Rivers State government paid hosting rights for the hosting of the NBA AGC 2025.
“We wish to clarify that the decision to host the 2025 AGC in Port Harcourt was taken in August 2024 and was not subject to any bidding process or payment of any hosting rights. The host city has no hosting rights, and there is no representation by the NBA that the conference must be held in a chosen city.
“Traditionally, because of the enormous cost involved in hosting the AGC, the NBA Conference Planning Committee approaches organisations, agencies of government, and state governments for support, and the support requested is unconditional and not tied to hosting rights or any rights whatsoever.
“The money from Rivers State was a gift and was not tied to any purported hosting right for the NBA AGC,” the NBA stated.
Recall that on Thursday last week, the NBA announced that it had shifted its 2025 AGC, earlier scheduled for Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to Enugu State due to the emergency rule.
