Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has alleged that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) received an unappropriated N300 million gift from the suspended administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, which he claims influenced the association’s opposition to the recent declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State.
Wike made the statement during a media chat on Thursday in Abuja, expressing disappointment over the NBA’s stance against the emergency declaration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The NBA had earlier relocated its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu State, citing the emergency rule as unconstitutional and a threat to the rule of law.
However, Wike argued that the NBA’s objection was not based on legal principles but was rather influenced by the financial gift it received from the Rivers State Government.
“How will the NBA back the emergency rule in Rivers when they collected gifts? They condemned a judgment on local governments without even reading it. The president declared a state of emergency, and they said he was wrong. Now everyone knows why—they were gifted N300 million that was not appropriated,” Wike said.
The controversy deepened after the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, demanded that the NBA return the funds, which were intended to support the hosting of the conference in Port Harcourt.
In response, the NBA maintained that the funds were a legitimate gift from the state government. But Wike countered this claim, stating that unlike a budgeted grant—such as what he approved during his own tenure—the N300 million in question was not backed by any formal appropriation and was therefore illegal.
“In my own time, I budgeted such support as a grant, which is legal. But in this case, it was not appropriated. NBA took an illegal gift,” Wike asserted.
The development has sparked renewed debate over transparency, ethics, and the influence of financial transactions on institutional neutrality in Nigeria.
4o
Is this conversation helpful so far?
Comments