Rivers council chairman blasts NBA over VDM invitation
…Calls for stronger engagement on electoral law
By Daniel Abia, Port Harcourt
The Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Dr Chidi Julius Lloyd, has criticised the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over the invitation of social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to speak at its ongoing 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.
Lloyd, a former law lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, described the invitation as inappropriate, arguing that the NBA’s annual conference should prioritise serious legal discourse and issues affecting Nigeria’s justice and democratic systems.
He spoke in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, following VDM’s appearance at one of the sessions of the conference.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page and titled, “Shame on the NBA,” Lloyd said the association should remain focused on promoting legal excellence, professional ethics, constitutionalism and national development.
He said the NBA had historically served as a platform for legal practitioners, jurists and advocates of the rule of law to engage on critical national issues.
“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,” he said.
Lloyd particularly objected to what he described as attacks on security agencies during VDM’s appearance at the conference, saying members of the Armed Forces deserved respect for their service to the country.
“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,” he said.
“The military deserves respect, not blackmail on a Bar platform. Kudos to the two officers who stood up and responded. That was a defence of dignity and service.”
The council chairman urged the NBA to return its focus to what he described as its core responsibilities of scholarship, advocacy, discipline and nation-building.
“The Bar cannot afford to trade gravitas for virality. The legal profession deserves better. Nigeria deserves better,” he said.
Lloyd also questioned the composition of the conference’s speakers, expressing disappointment that Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas and Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, were not invited to speak at the event.
He argued that the conference provided an opportunity for robust discussion of electoral reforms and other issues affecting Nigeria’s democratic development.
Rather than what he described as “tantrums” at the conference, Lloyd urged the NBA to facilitate substantive engagement on electoral law and other matters of national importance.
He also criticised the invitation of Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, to the conference, questioning his record on local government elections while he was governor of Anambra State.
“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,” Lloyd said.
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