Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has criticised the Nigerian Bar Association’s decision to invite former Liberian President George Weah to its ongoing annual conference, urging the association to stop inviting what he described as “dictators in Africa” to address Nigerian lawyers. Africans& Diaspora
Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, spoke on Tuesday, August 25, during the NBA’s 66th annual conference in Port Harcourt, days after Weah delivered a keynote address at the event.
In his address, Weah urged Nigerian lawyers to defend judicial independence and resist efforts by political leaders to weaken institutions that protect democracy. Falana, however, accused the former Liberian president of undermining judicial independence during his 2018–2024 administration, alleging that his government “captured” the judiciary.
“This goes for the leadership of the bar. I want to appeal that the bar association must stop inviting dictators in Africa to come and address us,” he said. “George Weah, who was here yesterday, and was talking about the judiciary. In his country, his regime captured the judiciary to the extent that they had to contact some of us outside the country to get legal redress in the ECOWAS court.”
Falana cited cases involving the Mandingo people and former Liberian Supreme Court Associate Justice Kabineh Muhammad Jan’neh as examples of what he described as Weah’s failure to respect judicial decisions.
“In the case of the people of Mandingo against Liberia, people whose landed properties were seized during the war. The ECOWAS court gave them judgment,” Falana said. “George Weah refused to comply with the judgment. The new government of Boakai has therefore set up a committee for the enforcement of that judgement.”
He also alleged that Jan’neh was removed from office without justification and said the ECOWAS Court subsequently overturned the dismissal, awarded him $200,000 and ordered his reinstatement. “Second, Kabineh Muhammad Jan’neh, an associate justice of the supreme court in Liberia, was dismissed without any basis.
“Again, we went to the ECOWAS court, the court set aside his dismissal and awarded him $200,000 and he was ordered to be reinstated. George Weah refused to comply with the judgment. That is the man coming here to talk about the rule of law and democracy. He ruled Liberia between 2018 and 2024. During his time, drug barons took over the country.”
Weah, who served as Liberia’s president from 2018 to 2024, is also the only African footballer to have won both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards, achievements he secured in 1995.