NBA unfair to me, withdrawal had political undertone – El-Rufai

The lawyer to Kaduna State governor and senior advocate, AbdulHakeem Mustapha, in a letter reacted to the decision of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to withdraw the Governor Nasir el-Rufai as panelist in the Annual General Conference of the association.

READ ALSO: NBA President speaks on El-Rufai’s withdrawal from the conference

Mustapha  in a letter to the president of the association, Mr Paul Usoro, SAN, said the withdrawal had a political undertone and the umbrella body of lawyers was unfair to the governor, Daily Times gathered.

He described as strange the circumstance surrounding the said withdrawal of the invitation, which, according to him, was based on one-sided allegations contained in a petition by the Open Law Initiative, which was believed and acted upon by the Annual General Conference Planning Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association without any reference to Governor el-Rufai.

The letter read;

‘’The decision taken by the NBA to withdraw their invitation to Governor el-Rufai on the basis of the wild and unsubstantiated allegations contained in the Open Bar Initiative Petition without any reference to the Governor, is not only a naked affront on the rule of law, but also a contradiction of the NBA’s motto which held itself out as the custodian, defender and guardian Angel of the rule of law in Nigeria.

’The implications of this grievous decision by the NBA demonstrates a total disregard for the basic constitutional provision of fair hearing, which is the foundation and bedrock of the rule of law designed for the safeguard of fundamental right and freedom in any civilised and democratic society. It, therefore, beats all imagination that an elitist professional body like the NBA could take a decision that negates the very essence of this fundamental constitutional provision, no matter how tempting or appealing the reason may be.

‘’Going further, it is also instructive to note that the NBA sat down, constituted itself into a court and adjudged Governor el-Rufai guilty of all the allegations contained in the said Petition without hearing a word from the Governor and thereafter proceeded to apply the sanction requested by the Petitioners which is a withdrawal of the invitation. What a “court?” Can this be called justice and fairness? Is this exemplary?

‘’It would certainly not be out