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NBA bows to pressure, withdraws invitation to el-Rufai
OBINNA EZUGWU
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has finally withdrawn its invitation to Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai to be headline speaker at its 2020 annual conference following protests from lawyers.
The NBA which announced the decision to withdraw the Kaduna governor’s invitation in a tweet via its Twitter handle @NigBarAssoc on Thursday, said the decision would be communicated to the governor.
“The National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association at its ongoing meeting resolves that the invitation to the Kaduna State Governor, H.E. Nasir El-Rufai, by the 2020 Annual General Conference Planning committee be withdrawn and decision communicated to the Governor,” the tweet read.
Many lawyers had opposed the choice of el-Rufai to speak at the conference which is scheduled to hold between August 24 and 26, citing alleged human rights abuse by his government and his inability to take action against killings in southern Kaduna.
On Tuesday, a Lagos based lawyer, Usani Odum, started a petition to stop the governor from attending the conference, and by Thursday afternoon it had garnered over 3000 signatures on Change.Org
In a separate letter titled, ‘Request to Withdraw the Offer of Platform at the 2020 Annual General Conference of the NBA to Mallam Nasir el-Rufai,’ addressed to the Chairman, Technical Committee on Conference Planning, NBA, Prof. Koyinsola Ajayi, some lawyers said the governor must not be allowed to speak at the conference.
The letter, which was signed by Silas Onu and Auta Nyada, listed 10 allegations against el-Rufai and his son, Bello, who is a Special Adviser to Kaduna Central lawmaker, Senator Uba Sani.
They faulted the NBA for inviting el-Rufai, citing his alleged poor human rights record and his inability to stop the killings, particularly in southern Kaduna.
The lawyers also referenced many controversial utterances of the governor, including a threat during the run-up to the general elections in 2019 that any foreigner that interfered in the poll would leave Nigeria in body bags.
