SERAP, Others Jubilate as NBA Withdraws Invitation to El-Rufai
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who was scheduled to speak at NBA’s Annual General Conference next week has been on the receiving end of members of the NBA who recently asked that the Kaduna State Governor’s name included as a speaker in the conference be withdrawn if not they won’t attend it.
Following the event, several human rights advocates, including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, hailed the Nigerian Bar Association for withdrawing its invitation. The reason for such a call for the removal of Elrufai’s name is because he is being criticized for not tackling the killings in Southern Kaduna effectively and in this regard, he is not fit to be a speaker in the forthcoming election.
The NBA in a tweet on Thursday said it had decided to remove El-Rufai from the list of its speakers, adding that the decision would be communicated to the governor. The tweet 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to the Kaduna State Governor, H.E. Nasir El-Rufai by the 2020 Annual General Conference Planning Committee be withdrawn and the decision communicated to the governor.”
A petition to stop the governor from attending the conference, which was started by a lawyer, Usani Odum, had garnered over 3,400 signatures on Change.Org as of 6 pm on Thursday.
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 poor human rights record and his inability to stop the killings particularly in 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’.
Earlier, El-Rufai’s son, Bashir, had mocked those calling on the NBA to withdraw its invitation to his father, accusing them of receiving N15,000 bribe.