NBA Lashed For Inviting Verydarkman To Speak At Confab

A legal practitioner and chairman of Emohua local government area of Rivers State, Dr Chidi Lloyd, has criticised the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for giving out its revered platform to an activist, Martins Otse, popularly know as ‘Verydarkman’, to launch lethal attacks on the security agencies, rather than dissecting the electoral law to the benefit of the nation’s political system and good governance.

Lloyd, who is also former leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, disclosed this in a statement posted on his official Facebook page capital, yesterday, describing the invitation of VDM as “a shame”.
In the post titled: “Shame in NBA”, the council chairman said, “The Nigerian Bar Association is meant to be the voice of legal excellence, ethics and national leadership. The Bar has for years been the training ground for jurists, advocates of rule of law and custodians of our constitution,” he said.

“It is therefore deeply disappointing that the NBA Annual Conference, which should feature renowned legal luminaries, senior advocates, judges, and policy experts, is now being reduced to an avenue for clout, content creation, and social media theatrics.

“Inviting personalities like VDM to a platform meant for serious legal discourse, and allowing the use of that stage to insult members of the Armed Forces who risk their lives daily for our territorial sovereignty, was a misplacement of priority. The military deserves respect, not blackmail on a Bar platform. Kudos to the two officers who stood up and responded. That was a defense of dignity and service”, he said.

Lloyd charged the NBA to go back to its core: scholarship, advocacy, discipline, and nation-building, adding that “the Bar cannot afford to trade gravitas for vitality. The legal profession deserves better. Nigeria deserves better”.

He expressed regret over non-invitation of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbeme, SAN, to speak at the conference.

The LG Boss blamed the leadership of the legal association for bringing “people who locked up the courts for years” to come and throw tantrums at the conference rather than engaged robustly on the electoral law and other key issues of national interest.

Lloyd particularly took a swipe at the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi who, he said, never conducted local government elections in Anambra state throughout his eight years as governor.

“It is a shame that Peter Obi who did not care to conduct a local government election in Anambra state for the eight years he was governor was also invited to the conference to express his political interest. Is a shame,” he said.