₦300m Was A Gift, NBA Replies Rivers Administrator
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has clarified that the ₦300m it received from the Rivers State Government was a gift and was not tied to any purported hosting right for its Annual General Conference. A statement by the Chairman of the 2025 NBA Conference Planning Committee, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Emeka Obegolu, clarified that the decision to host the conference in Port Harcourt was taken in August 2024 and was not subject to any bidding process or payment of any hosting rights. Obegolu was reacting to a statement credited to the Administrator of Rivers State to the effect that the state government paid for the hosting of the NBA 2025 Conference which was initially fixed to be held in the state capital. The statement further said that because of the enormous cost involved in hosting the NBA Conference, the Planning Committee usually approaches organisations, agencies, and state governments for support, stressing that the support requested was unconditional and not tied to hosting rights or any rights whatsoever. It clarified that even with such gifts, the host city has no hosting right and there is no representation by the NBA that the conference must be held in a chosen city. Meanwhile, the Enugu State Government has expressed its readiness to host the lawyers for their 2025 Annual General Conference. The Chairperson of the Enugu State Tourism Board, Rita Mbah, told reporters in Enugu that the state government was committed to ensuring “a memorable and seamless experience” for the lawyers. Mbah said the state had made available the newly commissioned Enugu International Conference Centre for the event. The NBA had moved the venue of its 2025 conference from Rivers to Enugu in protest against President Bola Tinubu’s replacement of Governor Siminalayi Fubara with retired naval chief Ibok-ete Ibas on March 18, 2025.
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