Witness narrates how Ex-HoS, allies diverted public funds to private companies in court
Petition To Stop El-Rufai From Speaking At NBA Conference Gains Support
By Emmanuel Awosika
A petition seeking to bar Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, from speaking at this year’s Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference has gathered over 500 signatures.
A member of the Nigerian Bar, Usani Odum, initiated the petition, which has gathered tremendous support from other lawyers.
The petition’s summary reads: “The senseless killings in southern Kaduna must stop. The political correctness of Governor El-Rufai on national TV is diversionary. It is a reversal to have him speak to lawyers on security, when Governor (Babagana) Zulum of Borno a better person can do so.
“We may not be able to do anything to stop the killings, but we can stop the governor from speaking at the NBA-AGC to show our disapproval of the manner he has handled the situation!!”
The new petition comes as members of the Nigerian Bar demand the removal of El-Rufai from the list of people to address this year’s NBA conference.
According to them, the Kaduna State Governor’s dismal human rights record and failed handling of the Southern Kaduna skirmishes make him a poor choice for a speaker at the event.
Some lawyers have threatened to boycott the conference if El-Rufai is allowed to speak the conference, scheduled to hold later this year.
The lawyers made their position known in a letter addressed to Chairman, Technical Committee on Conference Planning, NBA, Prof Koyinsola Ajayi, titled ‘Request to Withdraw the Offer of Platform at the 2020 Annual General Conference of the NBA to Mallam Nasir el-Rufai’.
The letter, signed by Silas Onu and Auta Nyada, stated that the governor must be barred from giving any address at the conference.
The lawyers recalled that El-Rufai had in the run-up to the 2019 elections said any foreign national who attempted to interfere with the polls would depart Nigeria in “body bags”.
They also mentioned El-Rufai’s poor performance on several rankings conducted by human rights organizations and his publicized intolerance for opposition parties.
