Human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju has dismissed claims that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) received financial support from the Rivers State Government in connection with the now-relocated 2025 Annual General Conference (AGC), calling the allegations false, misleading, and politically motivated.
Adeyanju was responding to a social media statement attributed to the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd), who accused the NBA of hypocrisy over its decision to move the conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu.
In a statement released on Sunday, Adeyanju clarified that the NBA neither solicited nor received any funding from the current Rivers State administration. He emphasized that the decision to relocate the conference was a principled stance in defence of constitutional democracy.
He debunked the claim that Rivers State was denied any “hosting rights,” stating that no state is entitled to host NBA conferences as a matter of right. Rather, he explained, the choice of host city is based on factors such as infrastructure, logistics, accessibility, and security, as determined by the NBA’s National Executive Committee.
“That Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt have frequently hosted the AGC is a matter of capacity, not entitlement,” Adeyanju said. “The narrative suggesting Rivers was unjustly stripped of a right is both constitutionally incoherent and historically inaccurate.”
He also refuted suggestions that Rivers State’s financial donations should influence the NBA’s decisions, asserting that the Association is an independent professional body, not a “mercantile contractor.”
Adeyanju cited the 2023 AGC held in Abuja, which received no financial input from the Federal Capital Territory Administration, as evidence of the NBA’s independence.
“The insinuation that states can buy influence or secure hosting rights through donations is a dangerous one. The NBA must continue to show it is immune to inducement,” he warned.
On the reported N300 million contribution by the Rivers State Government, Adeyanju clarified that it was made under the previous, democratically elected administration, not the current one, which he described as “widely viewed as unconstitutional and antithetical to the rule of law.”
He argued that proceeding with the AGC in Port Harcourt under the present circumstances would amount to endorsing unconstitutional governance — a move that could undermine the NBA’s credibility as a defender of democracy.
Adeyanju urged the NBA not to yield to pressure or “blackmail and gaslighting,” stressing that its legitimacy lies in upholding constitutional principles, not in how much it receives from governments.
“The NBA must not be bullied into reversing its principled decision. Any attempt to weaponize public sentiment is simply a distraction from the real issue — the imposition of undemocratic governance in Rivers State,” he said.
He concluded by commending the NBA for relocating the 2025 AGC to Enugu and encouraged the Association to remain firm in its defence of constitutional order.
“This is not a repudiation of the people or lawyers of Rivers State, who remain our colleagues and brothers,” he said. “It is a rejection of unconstitutional governance. We are lawyers. We are defenders of the rule of law. And we must not retreat.”
The Nation
