Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has launched a blistering attack on the Nigerian Bar Association, dismissing its 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt as a "complete flop" and a "jamboree" he deliberately avoided. Wike, a former Rivers State governor who once hosted the NBA conference in Port Harcourt in 2021, defended his decision not to attend the August 2026 event during a media parley on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. He accused the association's leadership of abandoning its core mandate and transforming the premier legal gathering into a platform for opposition politics and social media theatrics. "Anybody who knows me knows that I don't attend something that's a jamboree," Wike declared. "I will not attend something that traders are in charge".
The FCT minister did not hold back in his critique, describing the conference as poorly organised and a deviation from the NBA's historical purpose. "It was a complete flop. Organisation was zero," he said. Wike argued that instead of concentrating on issues affecting the legal profession and the judiciary, the NBA leadership allowed politics to overshadow the event. "Instead of you to focus on the real thing the NBA conference was supposed to be, they started playing politics," he said. "They started having it as a ground for opposition parties to sell themselves".
Wike's anger was particularly directed at the NBA's decision to invite certain individuals and political figures to the conference. He questioned the legacy of the current NBA president, accusing her of inviting a former Rivers State governor whom he accused of shutting down the state's courts for almost two years. "I told the current NBA president why I did not support her. She went to invite a former governor of the state who chained and locked up the court for almost two years," Wike said, referring to his rival, Rotimi Amaechi. "When you see this kind of thing, you begin to wonder, what kind of NBA is this?". He argued that the NBA should be careful about the individuals it honours or gives prominence to at its events.
The minister also took issue with the presence of prominent opposition figures, including Peter Obi of the Labour Party, which he said reinforced his belief that the conference had been co-opted by partisan interests. He criticised the decision to invite unconventional voices, including social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, whose invitation sparked backlash from senior lawyers.
Wike's defence of his absence was not just about the NBA conference. During the media parley, he also mounted a strong defence of President Bola Tinubu's administration, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and the increased revenues now accruing to states and local governments. He argued that President Tinubu had no constitutional power to dictate how other tiers of government spend their allocations. "Tinubu has no power to say, 'State, this is what you should do with the funds that you've brought in from the fuel subsidy.' He has no power to tell local governments what to do with their money. All tiers of government are independent," Wike said. He was responding to comments by former Anambra State governor and NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on the management of subsidy gains, arguing that Obi should instead demand accountability from state and local governments.
Wike also used the occasion to tout the achievements of the Tinubu administration in the FCT, challenging critics to produce a better infrastructure record. He said 76 of 107 Tinubu-era capital projects in the FCT had been completed, with 10 more scheduled for commissioning before the January elections.
The NBA conference, held from August 21 to 28, 2026, in Port Harcourt, was a major event for the legal profession, attracting thousands of practitioners across West Africa. However, it also faced criticism for its political undertones and the inclusion of controversial speakers. Wike's boycott and subsequent criticism have deepened the rift between the executive and the legal profession, raising questions about the independence of professional bodies in an increasingly polarised political climate.
Wike, who is himself a lawyer and a Life Bencher, had previously hosted the 2021 NBA Conference in Port Harcourt, where he championed the law as an instrument for social progress. His current alienation from the association highlights the volatile realignment of political loyalties following the 2023 elections. By dismissing the conference leadership as "traders," Wike implies that the association's executive committee commodified the event, trading the bar's historical prestige for viral internet engagement and partisan applause.
The public feud illustrates the intense pressure facing independent bar associations across Africa. When judicial institutions provide platforms for fierce government critics, they risk retaliatory marginalisation by powerful state actors controlling federal purse strings and policy frameworks. For now, Wike has drawn a clear line in the sand, and the NBA leadership will have to navigate the fallout of a conference that has left the legal profession more divided than ever.
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