A former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Conference Planning Committee, Funke Adekoya, SAN, has said lawyers should not blame the CPC Chairman for high NBA conference registration fees, insisting that such fees are fixed and approved by the NBA National Executive Council.
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Adekoya made the clarification amid criticism over the registration fees for the 2024 NBA Annual General Conference and comments linking the fees to Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya, SAN, who chaired the Conference Planning Committee.
According to Adekoya, the debate is being taken out of context because the responsibility for determining conference fees does not lie with the CPC Chairman.
She said she was speaking from experience, having served twice as Chairman of the NBA Conference Planning Committee during the administration of the late Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, for the Lagos 2007 and Kaduna 2008 conferences.
“This whole issue is being taken totally out of context. I have been a Conference Planning Chairman twice, under the Akeredolu administration — Lagos 2007 and again Kaduna 2008. So I speak from experience when I say that the fixing of conference fees is not within the responsibilities of the CPC Chair,” she said.
Adekoya explained that conference registration fees are the sole prerogative of NBA NEC, which receives the report of the Conference Planning Committee and considers the financial proposals placed before it.
She said the fees are usually proposed by the National Officers after considering the internal budget required to run the Association after the conference and the projected expenditure submitted by the CPC.
“Conference registration fees are the sole prerogative of the NBA NEC, which receives the conference planning report. The fees are usually proposed by the National Officers, based on their internal budget for running the Association for the year post-conference, and the conference expenditure proposed by the CPC,” she stated.
The senior advocate stressed that once NEC approves a conference registration fee, the CPC has no authority to alter it.
She added that the decision is a collective one taken by NEC, which includes all branch chairmen of the Association.
“Once a registration fee is agreed by NEC, the CPC cannot tamper with it. It is a collective decision of NEC, which includes all Branch Chairmen,” Adekoya said.
She therefore urged lawyers who are dissatisfied with conference fees to direct their concerns to NEC and the branch chairmen who participated in approving the fees, rather than blaming the CPC or its chairman.
“Stop blaming the CPC for high conference fees, blame NEC, including the Branch Chairs that approved the conference fee based on budgeted conference expenditure figures. I rest,” she added.
Her intervention appears to push back against attempts to hold Mrs. Badejo-Okunsanya personally responsible for the 2024 conference registration charges.
Adekoya’s position is that while the CPC may propose conference expenditure, the final power to approve registration fees rests with NBA NEC, making the fees a collective institutional decision rather than the personal decision of the CPC Chairman.
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