A group of lawyers under the aegis of the Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL) has called for the publication of a full and audited account of all funds received in relation to the Nigeria Bar Association’s 2025 Annual General Conference.
They also called for the establishment of an independent panel of past NBA Presidents and senior lawyers to recommend reforms for improved transparency and accountability while asking the NBA to return to the Rivers State Government the N300 million it received.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, PILL described the development as a “sordid scandal” that has jeopardized the NBA’s integrity. The association has failed to uphold the standards of transparency and accountability it demands of others.
“Today, we address the sordid scandal involving the acceptance, and indeed, the quiet and clandestine collection of Three Hundred Million Naira (N300,000,000) by the leadership of the NBA from the suspended Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara.
“The revelation of this transaction did not come from the NBA. It did not come from the leadership of the Bar. It was not disclosed in any financial statement or publication to members. The Chairman of the Annual General Conference Planning Committee did not acknowledge it. No, it came from the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, who, in an explosive public declaration, unveiled this dark secret to a shocked nation. Let that sink in.
“The NBA, an association of legal practitioners sworn to uphold justice, transparency, and ethics, collected N300 million from a sitting governor and failed to disclose it until an external political appointee exposed them. This scandal is not only about money. It is about principle. It is about integrity. It is about the soul of the Nigerian Bar Association.
“We are gathered here today under the weight of a heavy moral cloud that hangs ominously over the Nigerian Bar Association, the NBA, an association of legal practitioners sworn to uphold justice, transparency, and ethics, collected N300 million from a sitting governor and failed to disclose it until an external political appointee exposed them.
PILL accused the NBA leadership, under President Afam Osigwe, SAN, of “an egregious abuse of the trust of its membership,” for failing to publish the donation in its financial reports or notify members.
“This scandal is not only about money. It is about principle. It is about integrity. It is about the soul of the Nigerian Bar Association,” the group declared.
The group also questioned the relocation of the 2024 NBA Annual General Conference from Rivers State to Enugu, alleging it may have been a “face-saving manoeuvre” to distract from the scrutiny of the controversial donation.
As part of its recommendations, PILL called for the immediate resignation of NBA President Afam Osigwe, SAN, and the Chairman of the Annual General Conference Planning Committee, Emeka Obegolu, SAN.
“These resignations are not punitive; they are necessary acts of organisational cleansing,” PILL said. “They are first steps toward the restoration of credibility and trust in the NBA.”
The group further demanded the establishment of an independent panel of past NBA Presidents and senior lawyers to recommend reforms for improved transparency and accountability.
PILL further issued a rallying call to lawyers across the country: “This is your Bar. This is your profession. If we are silent in this moment, we become accomplices to the desecration of an organisation that once stood tall as a beacon of democratic resistance and public advocacy.”
The group vowed to pursue legal and civic action to restore integrity to the Bar if necessary. “History is watching. Posterity is taking notes,” it warned. “Let it be recorded that when the Nigerian Bar Association strayed from its path, there were still lawyers who stood for truth, for justice, and for the ethical rebirth of our great profession.”
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), earlier through the Chairperson of the conference’s Planning Committee, Emeka Obegolu, said it would not refund the N300 million received from the Rivers State Government because the fund was “a gift” to the association for its 2025 Annual General Conference. (Vanguard)
