The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Etteh Ibas (Rtd), has formally requested the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to refund the N300 million hosting fee paid by the state government after the association relocated its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu.
The demand follows NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe’s (SAN) announcement citing the state of emergency declaration and Ibas’ appointment as Sole Administrator on March 18, 2025 as reasons for the venue change. In a statement issued by media aide Hector Igbikiowubo, the Rivers administrator challenged the NBA’s rationale as “misleading and uncharitable.”
While acknowledging the NBA’s right to select venues, the administration emphasized the association’s failure to address repayment of the substantial hosting fee already remitted. “If the NBA truly stands on principle, it should demonstrate the same integrity by promptly returning these funds rather than benefiting from a state it now publicly discredits,” the statement asserted.
The statement also defended President Tinubu’s emergency intervention as constitutionally valid and necessary for restoring stability, referencing Supreme Court rulings that affirmed key decisions during the transitional period. The administration cited the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in Suit No. SC/CV/1176/2024 which nullified local government elections conducted in violation of the Electoral Act, positioning this as judicial validation of the current transitional framework.
