Olumide Akpata, president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has allayed concerns among some of its members that the organisation intends to support one or both presidential candidates in the upcoming general elections in 2023.
Despite the fact that certain NBA players are affiliated with various political organisations, according to Akpata, the NBA is an apolitical organisation.
The NBA President spoke during a news conference held in Lagos to announce the events and programmes planned for the state's hosting of the NBA's 2022 Annual General Conference.
He said, “We are bending over backward to show that that is not the intention and just to add my voice in saying that the NBA cannot and will not endorse one, two, or three parties.
Akpata disclosed that the conference session hosting four of the 2023 presidential candidates is just part of the regular sessions at the event and that it is not a Manifesto night.
He said, “It is not a manifesto night or afternoon, it is a regular session at the conference where we are interrogating the issue of democracy in transition and the leadership deficit that we have identified in this country.
“We, however, thought that we should talk to those who are trying to ask us as Nigerians, to allow them to lead. So these are the persons’ that our members selected to be invited because we cannot invite all of them.”