THE presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi honoured the invitation to attend the 2022 conference of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Atiku and Mr Obi participated in the first plenary session of the conference holding in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, however, was not present at the conference session he was invited for.

Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos, however, was represented by his running mate and former Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima.

The topic of the panel discussion was ‘Democratic Transitions in 21st Century Nigeria: 2023 & Beyond.’

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, and that of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, were also among the discussants.

The 62nd NBA conference officially opened on 19 August and will continue till 26 August.

The theme of the conference is ‘Bold Transitions.’

In his welcome address, Olumide Akpata, the NBA President, said the association hopes to stage a world-class conference with an in-depth discourse on critical issues affecting the legal profession and the country in general.

“All around us are instances of transition in the different spheres of our national lives from the NBA where a newly elected President and Executive Committee members are scheduled to take up the reins of power to the national level where activities are on top gear for the 2023 general elections that will birth a democratic transition from one democratically elected President to another, for the fifth time in the 4th Republic,” said Mr Akpata.