Conference Relocation: Show integrity, refund N300m hosting rights – Rivers Govt to NBA

The Rivers State Government has called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to refund the N300 million allegedly paid for hosting rights of the association’s 2025 Annual General Conference (AGC), following the NBA’s decision to move the event from Port Harcourt to Enugu.

In a statement issued on Monday, Hector Igbikiowubo, the senior special assistant on media to the state government, said the NBA must show integrity by returning the funds, especially since the association cited “constitutional violations” as its reason for the relocation.

Last Friday, the NBA announced that it had withdrawn the hosting rights from Rivers over alleged breaches of constitutional order after President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state and appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as sole administrator.

The president had also suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and all members of the House of Assembly.

Responding to the NBA’s concerns, the Rivers government defended the emergency rule as a necessary action to restore order, arguing that the current administration is committed to upholding rights and judicial processes.

“The NBA, as a body of legal minds, should know better than to reduce a complex constitutional matter to political sensationalism,” the statement read. “While we respect the NBA’s right to choose its conference venues, we find it curious that despite its ‘principled position’, the association has not addressed the refund of the N300 million already paid.”

The government insisted that if the NBA is truly guided by principles, it must return the money “rather than benefiting from a state it now publicly discredits.”

In August 2024, NBA President Afam Osigwe had announced Port Harcourt as the 2025 AGC venue before the recent political developments led to its reversal.