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We Will Boycott NBA Conference If El-Rufai Not Allowed To Speak – Dutse NBA
By Emmanuel Awosika
The Dutse chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association has called on the NBA’s leadership to reverse its decision barring Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, from speaking at the body’s Annual General Conference.
Members of the Dutse NBA said unless El-Rufai was re-invited, they would not attend this year’s conference, set to hold between August 24 and August 26, 2020.
This was contained in a statement released by the leader of the Dutse chapter of the NBA, Garba Abubakar.
The chapter criticized the NBA’s decision to remove El-Rufai from the list of invited speakers, saying the governor has the right to respond to allegations against him.
It questioned the morality of El-Rufai’s exclusion, given that Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, himself accused of human rights violations, was among the speakers.
The branch indicated that it would not allow one section of the country dictate for the organization as they all equally understood the law.
The statement reads partly, “If complaints are to be judged on their face value and without due process, similar treatment is to (be) given to the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who has serious allegations of abuse of human rights against him to the extent of demolition (of) residential houses and place of worship without observing due process.
“A section of the country cannot, therefore, take us for a ride as we all have a fair understanding of the law. On the strength of this, therefore, we call on the national body under President Usoro (SAN), to reverse the decision with immediate effect else the Nigerian Bar Association, Dutse branch, will boycott the virtual Annual General Conference taking place in a few days.”
Even as the protest against El-Rufai’s exclusion comes, the petition calling for the governor to be prevented from speaking at the conference has gathered over 4,300 signatures.
