Senior Advocate of Nigeria, J.S. Okutepa,
has taken a firm stand against calls to refund the N300 million donation from
Rivers State Governor Sim Fubara to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for its
2025 Annual General Conference, originally planned for Port Harcourt.
In a detailed statement, Okutepa described demands to
return the funds—particularly to the controversial Sole Administrator of Rivers
State—as both unlawful and impractical, while challenging proponents of a
self-funded NBA to lead by example.
Okutepa’s full statement reads:
“I have read the views of some of my colleagues that
the NBA should return the sum of N300 million donated to it by the legitimate
Rivers State Governor for the 2025 Annual General Conference of the Bar, which
was initially scheduled to hold in Rivers State in August this year. Some of my
colleagues went further to argue that the NBA should not collect money from the
government and that the NBA must be self-funding. Plausible and sound as these
arguments may be, I think most are not rooted in the realities of our situation
as Nigerian lawyers.
But before returning to this, let me repeat what I
said earlier on this N300 million. I have expressed the view that—even if the
N300 million given to the NBA by Governor Sim Fubara was for hosting rights, as
claimed by the illegal and unconstitutional Sole Administrator of Rivers
State—it would be unconstitutional and unlawful for the NBA to return the money
to the Sole Administrator. Doing so would amount to recognizing him as a
legitimate authority in Rivers State. I do not even think the Sole Administrator
deserves a reply from the NBA. If he feels strongly about his case, he should
go to court and enforce the alleged breach of the hosting rights agreement. We
will meet him there. In any case, was he appointed as a debt collector or to
restore peace in Rivers State, which his appointors claim Governor Sim Fubara
could not? What an absurdity of illegality.
I stand by this view. The illegal and unconstitutional
Sole Administrator can go to court. We will meet him there. But my main concern
now is the trending suggestion by my colleagues that the NBA should refund the
money and not be funded by those in power. I welcome these suggestions. Let us
begin by setting examples. Those who believe the money should be refunded
should start by making donations to the NBA, enabling the association to return
the money to the Governor of Rivers State when he is reinstated.
As far as I know, the NBA survives largely on
donations from governments and other willing donors to fund its Annual General
Conferences. Conference registration fees alone are not sufficient to host
these events. How many lawyers in Nigeria are willing and ready to donate
generously to the NBA for its annual conferences? How much do we pay as
membership fees to fund NBA activities? Even the practising fees are
reluctantly paid by many.
Are we, as lawyers, truly ready for an independent Bar
that does not go cap in hand to fund its activities and conferences?
Many times, we even struggle to pay for annual
conferences. Year in, year out, we debate the conference fees. How many senior
lawyers, especially Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other senior members of the
profession, are willing to pay one million Naira each as conference fees for
NBA events? Yet we eagerly pay far more to attend IBA and CLA events, including
flight tickets and accommodation.
While I deeply appreciate the views of my colleagues
on the need for the NBA to be self-funded and self-sufficient, we must all
commit to financially supporting the association and ensuring its
accountability. The NBA must invest, grow, and become profitable to stand tall.
That said, I see no reason to return the money—especially since it was not tied
to hosting rights. If we all agree that the NBA should not accept money from
the government, then we must also agree to fund it ourselves.”
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