The Rivers State Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas has ordered the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA to refund the State the sum of N300 Million which the State paid the association as hosting rights.
Ibas was responding to NBA’s change of location for its 2025 annual conference.
NBA had initially selected Rivers State for its 2025 annual conference, for which the suspended governor, Sim Fubara paid the sum of N300 Million as hosting rights. However, upon the declaration of a State of Emergency, and subsequent appointment of Ibas as Sole Administrator, NBA said it was no longer holding the conference in Rivers State, rather, Enugu State.
Responding to this, Ibas said: “NBA claims to stand on ‘principle’, but they haven’t returned the N300 million paid by the Rivers State Government for the hosting rights of the 2025 conference.
“If the NBA truly stands on principle, it should promptly refund the N300 million rather than benefitting from a state it now publicly discredits,” Ibas said.