Only a few hours after the announcement by the Nigerian Bar Association that the invitation to Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to speak at the Association’s annual conference next week would be rescinded, several human rights activists have hailed NBA’s resolution to withdraw the invitation to the former FCT Minister.
Notably, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP lauded the Nigerian Bar Association for withdrawing its invitation to Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who was scheduled to speak at its Annual General Conference next week.
The NBA in a tweet on Thursday had announced that they would be rescinding the invitation to the Kaduna state governor, adding that 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to the Kaduna State Governor, H.E. Nasir El-Rufai by the 2020 Annual General Conference Planning Committee be withdrawn and the decision communicated to the governor,” the bar association said in a tweet.
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A petition to stop the governor from attending the conference, which was started by a lawyer, Usani Odum, amassed over 3,400 signatures on Change.Org as of 6 pm on Thursday.
In another petition entitled, ‘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, as well as other lawyers held that the governor must not be allowed to speak at the conference.
The letter, which was signed by Silas Onu and Auta Nyada, leveled 10 allegations against El-Rufai and his son, Bello, who is a Special Adviser to Kaduna Central lawmaker, Senator Uba Sani.
They flawed the NBA for inviting El-Rufai to participate in the conference, referencing his poor human rights record and his inability to tackle the killings currently ravaging Southern Kaduna.
The NBA virtual conference, which holds from August 24 to August 26, 2020, is expected to have Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), in attendance.
Others expected to speak at the event include former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili.
The theme of the conference is: ‘Am I a Nigerian- A Debate on National Identity, the Indigeneship-Citizenship Conundrum’.
In another development, El-Rufai’s son, Bashir, had mocked those demanding the NBA to withdraw its invitation to his father, accusing them of receiving a paltry N15,000 bribe.
Bashir took to his social media handle where he tweeted,
“So, the NBA didn’t cancel El-Rufai because Theophilus and Agnes on Twitter collecting N15,000 allowance decided to boycott the conference yet? Upside-down face!”
Consequently, the removal of El-Rufai from the list of speakers has been met with several jubilatory posts in all corners of social media pages.
SERAP also called on the NBA not to invite the representatives of the Federal Government until the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), began to obey court orders.
We welcome the decision by the NBA to withdraw its invitation to Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai on grounds of poor human rights records. We also call on the NBA not to invite the Nigerian Government/its reps to its events until President Buhari obeys all outstanding court orders,” SERAP said in a tweet.
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, said that what happened to El-Rufai was evidence that society is watching, and that even with immunity, a public functionary can still be prosecuted in the court of public opinion.
“What is happening with El-Rufai is evidence that people are watching. Even if you enjoy immunity under the Constitution, people can still prosecute you morally in the court of public opinion.” Mr Falana said.
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