PETITION TO NBA LEADERSHIP

To promote rule of law at the NBA without discrimination.

On 20th August 2020, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in a manner that reeked of sentiment and bias, voted to remove the name of Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai as a speaker at the NBA Annual General Conference because ‘NBA did not want to be embroiled in the controversy that trailed his invitation’. That ‘controversy’ was the unsubstantiated petition of abuse of human rights and disrespect for rule of law filed by two lawyers, who have personal issues with El-Rufai on 18 August, 2020 and was not seen by NEC members before the meeting. Meanwhile, the NEC/NBA retained Governor Nyesom Wike of River State and ex President Olusegun Obasanjo as speakers at the event. Without doubt, the duo of Obasanjo and Wike have countless records of human rights abuses and disrespect for rule of law now being chronicled and presented to the TCCP and NBA leadership. Thus, if truly NEC/NBA was fair and acted base on its core objective of promoting rule of law and human rights, Obasanjo and Wike should be removed from the list of speakers that will speak at the NBA AGC, unless it is ready to be ‘embroiled in such controversies’. The action of NEC/NBA in removing Mallam El-rufai's name alone is therefore wrong and condemnable, and the reason given by NBA President, Mr Paul Usoro, SAN is lame and untenable. On the basis of the above, we demand that the NEC/NBA should rescind its decision or also remove/withdraw the names of Obasanjo and Wike within 24 hours of this petition failing which we shall boycott the 2020 NBA AGC and the subsequent activities of the NBA.