The President of the Nigerian Bar Association has said that the total expenditure as at December, 2019, when the account of the NBA was tabled before the National Executive Council was N771, 168, 348.00.

This was revealed in the NBA 2019 Annual General Conference Accounts signed by the NBA President, Paul Usoro, SAN.

According to the report, the NBA recorded a profit/surplus of N135, 195, 280.22 from the NBA general conference.

Below read the press statement

NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION (“NBA”) 2019 ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE (“AGC”) ACCOUNTS

1. Compliments of the Season to all our members.

2. In furtherance of our commitment to promote and entrench transparency and accountability in the management of the NBA’s finances and affairs generally, we are pleased to publish hereby and with this Release, the NBA 2019 AGC Accounts (“2019 AGC Accounts” or “Accounts”). The Accounts was tabled before the NBA National Executive Committee (“NEC”) at its meeting that was held on 05 December 2019 and was adopted and duly approved by NEC.

3. Consistent with our practice as it relates to the NBA Quarterly Management Reports, I will in this Release highlight the most critical aspects of the 2019 AGC Accounts for the benefit of our Members, viz: i. Income. The Accounts show a gross income of N906,363,628.22. The highest streams of income were the Conference Registration Income (N466,398,628.22) and Donations and Sponsorships (N411,775,000.00). The details and breakdown of the income streams are in Notes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at pages 2-5 of the Accounts. ii. AGC Expenditures. The total AGC expenditure as at 05 December 2019 when the Accounts was tabled before the NBA NEC was N771,168,348.00 and the breakdown and details of these expenditures are in Notes 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 at pages 6-9 of the Accounts. To my knowledge, there are a few outstanding expenditures the gross of which, to the best of my knowledge, would not exceed N10,000,000.00. These would be reflected in the updated Accounts that would be prepared and presented to NEC at its next Quarterly meeting.

iii. Profit/Surplus. We recorded a profit/surplus of N135,195,280.22 from the AGC and this is arrived at by deducting the Total Expenditure of N771,168,348.00 from the Gross Income of N906,363,628.22. This profit/surplus amount may increase when and if we recover in full or even in part the unredeemed pledges amounting to N60,000,000.00, the details of which are set out at page 10 of the Accounts. It may also reduce slightly as soon as the outstanding expenditures are settled. iv. Unredeemed Pledges. We have prepared this AGC Accounts in a most conservative manner and have not, in particular, countenanced the aforereferenced unredeemed pledges amounting to N60,000,000.00. In particular, the gross income does not include these unredeemed pledges or any part thereof. We are however hopeful of recovering these pledges and will persist in following up with the pledgors.

4. I am particularly thrilled over this AGC accounts for a number of reasons. First, the preparation and publication of this Accounts reinforce our determination to permeate the entire sphere of NBA management and affairs with a governance culture that rests on transparency and accountability. In other words, the culture of publishing accounts now goes beyond the NBA Quarterly Accounts which, I hope and pray, may now be taken for granted by our members. By publishing these accounts, a statement has been made to the effect that the culture of transparency and accountability encompass and covers the different other facets of our financial transactions such as the AGC finances and record keeping.

5. Second, I am also thrilled by the fact that we not only made a profit from the AGC but netted enough income as at the commencement of the AGC to pay the bulk of the vendors’ invoices for the Conference. I can confirm that within a fortnight of the Conference, most of our vendors were paid their outstanding fees. We also had two of our colleagues who had medical emergencies during the Conference whose medical expenses were offset from the AGC income and form part of our expenditures.

6. Third, the essence of Accounts apart from its core governance essence, is to create benchmarks with which one judges future and even past performances. On that note, it remains for me to state that the 2020 AGC shall, by God’s Grace, surpass the 2019 AGC in all respects save for the transparency and accountability principles which would remain constant. In terms of income and profit margins, we would work to exceed the 2019 numbers. More importantly, the program contents for the 2020.

AGC and the attendant organizational arrangements therefor, would exceed the 2019 and indeed the expectations of our members. For those of you who attended the 2019 AGC, be sure not to miss the 2020 Conference. For those of you who missed the 2019 AGC, you will not live down the regrets if you miss the 2020 Conference.

7. I wish all our members the joys and blessings of the Season and a most prosperous 2020 in advance.