Some lawyers on Thursday staged a walkout on a programme that was being held as part of the Nigerian Bar Association’s annual general conference in Abuja.
The programme which was tagged ‘Unbarred’ was held at the Velodrome of the MKO Abiola Stadium.
According to the event’s poster, the host was Timi Agbaje. DJ Skillz and Veentage Band were billed to man the Music Policy and it promised a surprise act.
After waiting for the concert to begin for several hours, lawyers were astonished to hear Portable was the guest performer.
The NBA president, Yakubu Maikyau, gave a brief speech and a DJ entertained the lawyers before the controversial singer appeared on stage.
Many of the lawyers questioned the choice of the Zazu singer and opted to walk out of the show.
“How dare they call Portable to come and play for lawyers at the conference? Can you imagine? Normally, ‘Unbarred’ doesn’t end till 3am or 4am but we are leaving for our hotels. We are so upset,” one of the lawyers said during the walkout.
“They spoiled my day with this Zazu. He couldn’t even wear a shirt,” another lawyer said. Videos circulated on social media show a shirtless Portable climbing some of the equipment at the stadium.
Another lawyer said, “I also left but it was largely due to the fact that I was tired. Many of the conferees were unhappy that Portable was invited.”
The protesting lawyers were seen walking or driving out of the stadium around 1am.
An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the video on Thursday.
A user, bearded_lawyah said, “I just want to see the genius at the Planning Committee meeting that thought it’d be a good idea to bring Portable to #Unbarred because if they aren’t high on Odogwu Bitters then they must be charge and bail lawyers because this thing no dey make sense no matter how you look am!”
Another user marcel_great said, “As #NigBarAssoc has decided to embarrass the bar with their choice of artiste for the unbarred concert, let it be known that we will visit the issue during the next year’s election. What business does NBA have with Portable? #afamosigwe we will remind you.”
Other lawyers, however, stayed behind to watch the controversial singer perform.
The Unbarred Concert is a live entertainment session organised for lawyers as part of the annual NBA conference.
It is the grand conference closing party and is held a day before the association’s annual general meeting.
2baba, Wande Coal, Teni, Bez, Brymo, Nini, Falz, Olamide and Ruger have performed at previous editions.