NBA’s conference return to Rivers not compensation for 2025 relocation - Osigwe

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is set to host its 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, from August 21 to August 28, under the theme 'Beyond Limits.' This marks a return to the city after the association's 2025 conference was unexpectedly relocated to Enugu State.

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We are not meant to be part of it, but when I heard that it was meeting with the press to also sensitise the public about this conference and also to apologise for the inconveniences.

NBA President Afam Osigwe, SAN, clarified during a media briefing that the decision to hold this year's conference in Port Harcourt is not a form of compensation for the previous year's relocation. He explained that the NBA had committed to returning to Rivers State once democratic institutions were fully restored, emphasizing that the current decision should be viewed in that context.

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To say that Port Harcourt is a beautiful city, it’s a very historical city. And in the annals of the history of the Bar, it occupies the pride of place, both for good and for bad, but more for the good.

The 2025 conference was moved due to a state of emergency and the appointment of an administrator in Rivers State, which the NBA deemed undemocratic. Following that relocation, the then Administrator of Rivers State had demanded the return of N300 million allegedly provided by the state governor as support for the conference.

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And it is a practice of the NBA to take the conference from one city to the other. It gives us a better opportunity to get to know the different people’s culture and places in Nigeria.

Osigwe highlighted Port Harcourt's historical significance to the Bar and noted that rotating the conference across different Nigerian cities allows members to experience diverse cultures and places. The upcoming conference is expected to attract over 23,000 lawyers, along with service providers and contractors, significantly boosting the local economy with an injection of hundreds of billions of Naira.

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And so we’ll be here, and a lot of money will be injected into the local economy. And I’m talking about hundreds of billions of Naira.