NBA conference: More controversy as Obasanjo refuses to attend
The former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is reported to have shunned the invitation extended to him to speak at the just concluded 60th Virtual Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Recall that the just-concluded NBA conference sparked heated controversy following a petition signed by thousands of lawyers, seeking for the removal of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, from the list of speakers due to his government’s failure to stop the killings in Southern Kaduna, and his alleged poor human rights record.
Read also: NBA President speaks on El-Rufai’s withdrawal from the conference
Consequently, the bar association decided to withdraw its invitation to el-Rufai in a tweet which read.
“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to the Kaduna State Governor, H.E. Nasir el-Rufai by the 2020 Annual General Conference Planning committee be withdrawn and decision communicated to the governor.”
However, this would not be the end of the story as the dis-invitation of el-Rufai sparked outrage with the Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria, who demanded the NBA to remove Obasanjo and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, from the list of speakers at the conference.
MULAN President, Ibrahim Abikan, while articulating the position of the Muslim lawyers said his association objected to having Obasanjo and Wike as speakers at the conference because they were also guilty of the same allegations filed against el-Rufai.
“We insist that if any standard is set for withdrawing el-Rufai, the same should apply to other speakers too.
“El-Rufai is a public officer and any other person who has the same record of allegations of human rights abuses should also be disqualified. We expect that the same standard should apply to Obasanjo and Wike,” he said.
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Daily Times also gathered that while other speakers including Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu spoke at the NBA conference, Obasanjo did not, while Governor Wike sent a proxy.
Confirming the former president’s absence, Abikan, a Professor of law at the University of Illorin said,
“I can confirm to you that former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not speak at the conference while Governor Nyesom Wike sent his SSG to represent him.”
It remains unclear at this time why Obasanjo elected to shun the invitation extended to him to speak at the conference, although a top source among the conference planning committee has speculated that Obasanjo was advised by the organisers not to attend the event due to the controversy that his inclusion generated.
