The Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria has asked the Nigerian Bar Association to dis-invite ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, from the list of speakers in the upcoming Annual General Conference of the NBA.
This follows the removal of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, over his government’s failure to stop the killings in Southern Kaduna and alleged human rights record.
The Bauchi and Jigawa branches of the NBA had threatened to boycott the 60th virtual conference, which holds between August 26 and 29, 2020, if el-Rufai is not re-invited.
President of the Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria, Ibrahim Abikan, however, called on the legal body to exclude Obasanjo and Wike because they too were allegedly guilty of the same allegations filed against el-Rufai.
Abikan said the outgoing NBA president, Paul Usoro, SAN, contacted MULAN to suggest an alternative “Northern Muslim speaker” following the dis-invitation of el-Rufai.
A Professor of Law at the University of Ilorin, Abikan, said, “MULAN didn’t suggest or recommend el-Rufai to be one of the speakers, so, we wonder why we were approached to come up with an alternative Northern Muslim governor to replace el-Rufai.
“We insist that if any standard is set for withdrawing el-Rufai, the same should apply to other speakers too.
“El-Rufai is a public officer and any other person who has the same record of allegations of human rights abuses should also be disqualified.
“We expect that the same standard should apply to Obasanjo and Wike.
“People have started forwarding petitions to me of allegations of human rights abuses and disrespect for the rule of law against Obasanjo and Wike. They have started forwarding it to NBA Conference Planning Committee and the NBA as a body.
“Our position is that whoever is going to be speaker should be able to give us a quality presentation.”
