Follow Us on Google
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has explained his absence from the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, describing it as a “complete flop” and accusing its organisers of turning the gathering into a political platform for opposition parties.
Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, spoke on Wednesday during his monthly media chat in Port Harcourt, where he dismissed suggestions that he deliberately stayed away from the conference because of the personalities and issues featured at the event.
The FCT Minister said he does not attend events he considers mere “jamborees”, particularly where, according to him, “traders are in charge”.
“Anybody who knows me knows that I don’t attend something that’s a jamboree. I will not attend something that traders are in charge,” Wike said.
He took a swipe at the leadership of the NBA, alleging that the association had become commercialised and saying the conference failed to meet the standard expected of the country’s foremost body of legal practitioners.
“The last leadership of the NBA shows that there was a trading. You saw the outcry; the NBA has never had that kind of conference since the NBA started. It was a complete flop,” he said.
Wike also accused the organisers of abandoning the core objectives of the annual conference and instead allowing it to become a platform for political activities and opposition figures ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Organisation was zero. Why? Instead of you to focus on the real thing the NBA conference was supposed to be, they started playing politics,” the minister said.
Other News
“They started having it as a ground for opposition parties to sell themselves.”
The conference, with the theme, “Beyond Limits”, featured several political figures and public personalities who shared their views on national issues, including insecurity and governance.
He maintained that the NBA gathering had lost focus, insisting that his decision not to attend was based on his opposition to what he described as the politicisation and poor organisation of the event.
Among the opposition political figures who participated were Peter Obi, Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo, African Action Congress (AAC) candidate Omoyele Sowore, Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who was also listed as the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Party.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, also attended the conference, where he defended President Bola Tinubu’s push for reforms, including the proposal for state police.
Social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, was also among the panellists at the conference, which featured divergent views on insecurity and other major national issues.
