A Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner, Chukwuma Chinwo, has advised the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to be cautious about the sources from which it solicits or receives funds.
Chinwo made the comment in reaction to the ongoing controversy between the Rivers State Sole Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas, and the NBA regarding the refund of N300 million given to the association by suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara prior to his suspension.
According to Chinwo, if the Rivers State Government indeed gave such an amount to the NBA, the association should not wait to be asked before returning the money, especially since the funds were not appropriated.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Post, Chinwo maintained that refunding the money would be a demonstration of the NBA’s honour and integrity.
Chinwo said, “I’m one person that is urging NBA to be very careful who it collects money from, and not from Government.
“It was not part of government budget. And in this case, if the Rivers State Government made a commitment to NBA, and gave it N300 million, it’s to host the conference.
“It is not what other states will be giving N20 million. So, if the man is not hosting anymore, you return the money and say sorry, we were to come here for this conference. We are not coming again because of xyz. And that is the part of honour.
“NBA is supposed to be an organization of honorable men and women. And so, if you collected money for something and you are not using it, you return it. That is integrity all over the world.
“So, I agree with the Sole Administrator that they would return the money.”;
While the NBA insists that the N300 million was a donation from the Rivers State Government, Ibas has threatened to initiate legal proceedings to recover the funds.
The NBA had originally planned to hold its annual conference in Rivers State but later relocated the event to Enugu State in protest of the emergency rule imposed on the state by President Bola Tinubu.
