By Maureen Dick
RIVERS State government has vowed that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) must refund the contentious N300 million released to it for the planned hosting of the association’s Annual General Conference in the state.
In the last 24 hours, Rivers State government and NBA have been in disagreement over the N300 million reportedly released to the association by the suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to host its AGC in Rivers, but later relocated to Enugu.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by
Hector Igbikiowubo, SSA Media, to
Rivers State Government, Port Harcourt, the government stressed that it would take all legal steps to ensure that NBA refunds the money immediately.
This latest development followed the association stance that the N300 million released by Fubara was ‘gift’, and has no hosting rights attached to the money.
Igbikiowubo stated: “The Rivers State Government has noted the statement by the NBA on the relocation of the 2025 Annual General Conference (AGC) from Port Harcourt, Rivers State to Enugu State.
“The Rivers State Government, however, outrightly rejects the NBA’s recent allegation that the ₦300 million payment made by the state was a “gift”, unrelated to hosting rights for the NBA AGC 2025.”
According to the State government, available records did not show that the money was ‘gift’, but was given under mutual understanding that the event would be hosted in Port Harcourt.
Igbikiowubo further explained: “For clarity, the Rivers State Government’s records show that the payment of ₦300 million to the NBA was made with the mutual understanding that Rivers State would host the 2025 edition of the NBA AGC.
“The Rivers State Government entered into this arrangement with the NBA in good faith, with the understanding that hosting the conference in the state would attract significant economic benefits to our state, positively and directly impact the businesses of our people.”
The state government noted that NBA unilaterally decided to relocate the venue of its 2025 AGC to Enugu, stating that its refusal to refund the N300 million was a breach of trust and unacceptable.
Igbikiowubo continued: “The NBA’s unilateral decision to relocate the AGC 2025 against our mutual understanding and subsequent decision to withhold the ₦300 million paid for the purpose of hosting the NBA AGC 2025 in Rivers State is unethical and amounts to a breach of trust.”
He emphasized that, while the government is willing to partner into partnership with any group including NBA, it would the state government would not accept any exploitation from any angle.
“Failure of the NBA to immediately refund the ₦300 million to the Rivers State Government, will compel the implementation of all legal means to recover the property of the good people of Rivers State.
“We reaffirm our willingness to engage in partnerships with all professional bodies, including the NBA, but we will not accommodate exploitation of our people and the Rivers State Government.”