NBA confab: El-Rufai removed as speaker after 3,000 lawyers threaten boycott

Lukman Olabiyi

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has been removed as one of the key speakers in the forthcoming virtual conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) after over 3,000 lawyers threatened to boycott the event.
National Executive Committee of the NBA took the decision at a pre-Annual General Conference (AGC), yesterday.
The decision was sequel to calls by lawyers to de-platform the governor over allegations bordering on killings in southern Kaduna, violation of human rights among others.
The lawyers demanded El-Rufai exclusion from the list of speakers and even threatened to boycott the conference if the leadership of NBA failed to listen. However, some lawyers believed the hullabaloo was unnecessary and uncalled for.
Lawyers who spearheaded his exclusion included former chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman, NBA, Ikeja branch and leader of Radical Agenda Movement in the Nigerian Bar Association (RAMINBA), Mr. Adesina Ogunlana, Open Bar Initiative (OBl) led by Mr. Silas Joseph Onu, Mojirayo Ogunlana-N kanga, M. M Obono, among others.
Odum in the petition domiciled on Change.org condemned the ongoing genocide in southern Kaduna, stating that El-Rufai’s comment on the happenings was ‘diversionary’ and as such was not qualified to be on the panel of speakers lined up for the event.
The petition was titled: “Help stop Nasir El-Rufai from speaking at NBA AGC.”