The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA,
on Friday said it brought the controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, to its 2023 Annual General Conference to entertain members of the association and not to set moral standard for them.
It described as unnecessary, the controversy that trailed the performance of Portable, at the 2023 Annual General Conference.
Some lawyers reportedly staged a walk-out after the Zazu crooner mounted the stage at a night event tagged 'Unbarred', which the legal body organised as part of activities it lined up for the conference that held at the Velodrome, M.K.O. Abiola Stadium.
Addressing the issue on Friday, the NBA, through the Chairman of its conference planning committee, Mr. Afam Osigwe, SAN, maintained that Portable's presence at the event was purely for the sake of entertainment and not to set moral standard for lawyers.
Osigwe, SAN, said it was unfortunate that everything that happened at the conference was being politicised.
He said: "I am the Chairman of the conference planning committee and I take responsibility for everything. When I hear comments about Portable, I ask myself, did we bring him to be an ambassador of the NBA or to entertain guests.
"We brought Portable to entertain lawyers, not to set moral standard. It was for entertainment.
"We may not agree on his choice. You may not like him. He may not be my idea of a best friend. But, saying because NBA invited him, then we have committed an atrocity will be an unfair comment on creativity and what entertainment should be all about.
"Many entertainers may not represent our best idea of moral compass or best friends to keep or recommend for our children. Some of the lyrics and some of the songs we also play in public places may not be to our taste. But to tell me that we should sound offensive because it is Portable or because he climbed something, people do worse in entertainment.
"I do not want us to fall for those who are trying to politicise everything that happened in the conference.
"He did not turn the NBA event to drug smoking event. People say that he is standing trial, but I ask, what about the presumption of innocence? Has he been convicted by any court?
"Did we bring him there to promote any form of immorality? The answer is No," Osigwe, SAN, added.
Meanwhile, the legal body, through its National President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, said it would on Saturday, release a communique and also address some of the issues that were raised by lawyers that were dissatisfied with the organization of the conference.
The NBA, which is the umbrella body of legal practitioners in the country, had earlier explained that Portable’s presence at the event was based on its partnership with popular socialite and entrepreneur, Obi Cubana.
It further explained that Cubana Group brought Portable owing to the fact that he is a brand ambassador of one of its products, Odogwu Bitters.
According to the National Publicity Secretary of the NBA, Mr. Akorede Lawal, the association did not pay a dime for Portable's performance at its Unbarred event.
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