The Rivers State Government has countered claims by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that the N300 million it received was an unconditional gift not tied to the hosting of its Annual General Conference (AGC) in the state.
The government vowed to deploy all legal processes to retrieve the money, if NBA fails to willingly make a refund.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday in Port Harcourt by Hector Igbikiowubo, media aide to the State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd.).
The state government categorically insisted that records showed the ₦300 million was tied to the hosting of the NBA conference in the state.
Part of statement reads, “The government rejects outright NBA’s recent claim that the N300 million paid by the state was a ‘gift’ unrelated to hosting rights for the NBA AGC 2025.
“NBA’s unilateral decision to relocate the AGC 2025 against our mutual understanding and subsequent decision to withhold the ₦300 million paid for the purpose of hosting the NBA AGC 2025 in Rivers is unethical and amounts to a breach of trust”.
“We reaffirm our willingness to engage in partnerships with all professional bodies, including the NBA, but we will not accommodate exploitation of our people and the government”.
The government threatened that if NBA fails to immediately refund the ₦300 million to it, it would be compelled to deploy all legal means to recover the property of the good people of Rivers.
