Femi Falana Slams NBA for Inviting Ex-Liberian President George Weah to Deliver Keynote Address
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has criticized the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for inviting former Liberian President George Weah to deliver the keynote address at its 66th Annual General Conference, accusing Weah’s administration of undermining judicial independence in Liberia during his time in office.
Falana made the remarks in a video posted on the NBA’s official YouTube channel on Monday, a day after Weah addressed lawyers and judges at the conference, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, under the theme “Beyond Limits.” Speaking candidly to the audience, Falana appealed directly to the leadership of the Bar Association to stop extending platforms to what he described as dictators across Africa to address Nigerian lawyers.
The senior lawyer alleged that during Weah’s presidency between 2018 and 2024, Liberia’s judiciary was compromised to such an extent that citizens were forced to seek legal redress through the ECOWAS Court. He specifically referenced a case involving the Mandingo people of Liberia, whose landed properties were allegedly seized during the country’s civil war, noting that although the ECOWAS Court ruled in their favour, Weah’s government failed to enforce the judgment, with the current administration under President Joseph Boakai only recently setting up a committee to implement the ruling. Falana also cited the case of a former associate justice of Liberia’s Supreme Court, alleging that the individual was dismissed without justification, only for the ECOWAS Court to later nullify the dismissal, order reinstatement, and award $200,000 in compensation, a ruling Falana said Weah’s administration similarly failed to comply with.
Reacting to the irony of Weah addressing lawyers on the subject of judicial independence, Falana remarked that it was curious for such a figure to speak on the rule of law and democracy given his record. The activist further alleged that drug trafficking flourished in Liberia during Weah’s tenure, pointing to the recent arrest of his former vice president, Jewel Howard-Taylor, who he said was detained on August 19 and is currently standing trial over alleged drug trafficking activities valued at $370 million. Falana also criticized Weah for reportedly leaving Liberia for nine days during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar to support his son, footballer Timothy Weah, who played for the United States national team rather than Liberia.
Falana urged the NBA to be more deliberate in selecting future speakers for its conferences, suggesting that the association should instead consider inviting figures such as Namibia’s female president, vice president, and speaker of parliament, alongside historical Nigerian statesmen like the late Obafemi Awolowo, as more fitting examples for the legal profession.
In his own keynote address themed around the conference’s focus, Weah had urged lawyers and judges to remain impartial, stressing that democracy could not survive on the strength of individual leaders but rather on strong institutions, and cautioned against governments that collude with compromised judicial systems.
The exchange has added a fresh layer of controversy to the ongoing NBA conference in Port Harcourt, which has already featured several heated political moments among Nigeria’s legal and political class in the lead-up to the 2027 general election.
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