2019 Q3 Management Account: NBA Total Current Liabilities Reads N282m Plus

The Nigerian Bar Association has released the NBA 2019 Q3
Management Account.

The Report which was made available to TheNigerialawyer (TNL) is
dated the 12th December, 2019, and signed by the NBA President,
Paul Usoro, SAN.

According to the report which covered August to September, the
total current liabilities of the association read a total sum of
N282, 404, 018.00.

Below read NBA Press Statement

1. In keeping with our commitment to promote and entrench
transparency and accountability in the management of the NBA’s
finances, we are delighted to publish hereby and with this
Statement the NBA 2019 Quarter 3 Management Account (“MA”,
“Management Report” or “MR”) covering the period August and
September 2019. For those who may be confused by the numbering of
this Account as 2019 Q3 Accounts, please recall that one of the
welcome resolutions from our 2019 Annual General Meeting (“2019
AGM” or “AGM”) that was held on 29 August 2019 was the change of
the NBA Financial Year to align with the traditional calendar year
of January to December instead of August to July of the succeeding
year. In that context, our 2019 Quarter 3 covers July to September
2019. However, the 2018/2019 Audited Account that was presented and
passed at the 2019 AGM covered the period August 2018 to July 2019
and that is why the present 2019 Q3 MR covers only the residue of
the 2019 Q3 i.e. August and September 2019.

2. The Q3 MA 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. Similar to what we did in
respect of the previous Management Reports, perhaps I need to
highlight a few areas in the 2019 Q3 MR for the benefit of our
Members, viz: i. The FS shows Cash and Cash equivalent position of
N820,884,486.00 as at 30 September 2019 (see page 4 of the MR), the
breakdown of which is provided in Note 5 to the MR at page 8
thereof. [“Cash equivalent” refers to instruments and holdings such
as stocks and similar investment instruments that could easily be
converted into cash.

NBA as at 30 September 2019 however had no such cash equivalent
as Note 5 to the FS bears out; what we had were only cash balances
in Bank accounts.] Note 5 shows that a large chunk of the Cash –
N450,000,000.00 drawn from the Bar Practicing Fee Account – was in
fixed deposit investment. The NBA NEC had earlier approved the
investment, the interest amount of which is paid by the Bank, on a
monthly basis, into the NBA Admin Account which, as at 30 September
2019 (Q3 ending), had a credit balance of N13,442,650.00 while the
Bar Practicing Fee Account had a credit balance of N40,334,944.00.
Noteworthy is the fact that the AGC account as at the said Q3
ending had N196,799,783.00. The remainder of the large sums in the
NBA Accounts were in dedicated accounts – N23,418,653.00 in the
Stamp and Seal Account, N24,935,661.00 in the NEC Account and
N64,993,684.00 in MacArthur Foundation Account – and not accessible
to NBA for administrative and/or operational activities.

The interest income from the afore-stated fixed deposit
investment as at 30 September 2019 was N8,568,493.00 – see Note 7
and also Item

(i) in the Appendix.
ii. On the liabilities side, the Total Current Liabilities, as at
30 September 2019, according to the MR (see page 4 thereof), was
N282,404,018.00. In contemplating this amount, we must draw Members
attention to the Caveat that is entered at page 1 of the MR whereat
PwC expressly forewarns the NBA of the possibility of a restatement
or adjustment of this figure based on fresh information and data
which may be unearthed sequel to the preparation of this Management
Report. In my discussions with PwC, any such Restatement or
Adjustment would be reflected in the Q4 2019 Management Report
which would cover the period October to December 2019. The details
of the Current Liabilities are set out in Note 6 of the MR at page
9 thereof. Suffice to state that most of the liabilities were
incurred prior to the inauguration of the current administration
and arose mostly from the 2018 AGC-related expenses. The good news
is, we have paid down the inherited liabilities very considerably
from where it stood at the beginning of this administration.

iii. The Statement of Comprehensive Income (at page 5 of the MR)
which is a component of the MR shows that the NBA had a total
income of N919,810,963.00 as at Q3 ending. Notes 7 and 8 to the MR
at pages 10 to 11 thereof provide the breakdown of this income and
show that 98% of the unrestricted income – N894,363,628.00 – came
from the 2019 AGC revenue streams and donations – see also the
Narrative in the Appendix to the MR at pages 16-17 thereof.

iv. The Statement of Comprehensive Income (see page 5 of the MR)
also shows that the NBA’s Total Expenditure for Q3 2019 was
N882,419,574.00. The details of the expenditure are set out in
Notes 9 and 10 of the MR at pages 12 to 15 thereof. Deducting this
Total Expenditure (N882,419,574.00) from the NBA’s Gross Income for
the Quarter (i.e. N919,810,963.00), leaves the NBA with a Surplus
of N37,391,389.00 as at the end of Q3, as shown in the
Comprehensive Income Statement. The bulk of the expenses –
N771,168,348.00 – were AGC expenses. The point to note is that,
even with our having settled most of the AGC expenses, the
Association still had a cash and cash equivalent position as at the
end of the Quarter of N820,884,486.00 – an unprecedented and
unheard of feat. Again, I must highlight the earlier caveat by PwC
to the effect that fresh information and data may result in the
restatement and/or adjustment of the expenditure figure in our Q3
2019 MR. I must also draw members’ attention to the Appendix to the
MA which provides further clarity on the expenditure for the
Quarter.

3. With the preparation and publication of this Q3 Management
Account, we have taken one more step towards institutionalizing the
basic principles of governance, transparency and accountability in
the NBA body politic thereby promoting efficiency and transparent
conduct in our affairs and also earning the respect and admiration,
not only of our Members but of our global audience. As we mentioned
in our Release on the 31 August 2018 MA, “it is our hope that the
consistent 2-year practice of what we have just begun – and by
God’s Grace, will maintain – would inculcate these practices into
the NBA DNA and make them irreversible by succeeding NBA
administrations”.

Click here to down the Breakdown for
the period ended 30th September 2019 in PDF
Format^[1]

Paul Usoro, SAN
NBA PRESIDENT

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