El-Rufai And NBA: What The Fiasco Means For 2023

By Chuks Ekpeneru

For the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, the decision of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to withdraw its invitation to a panel discussion at its forthcoming annual conference was an “an unfortunate embrace of injustice, unfairness, absence of fair hearing and total disregard for the rule of law.”

The governor had of recent become an advocate of power shift to the South in 2023 having publicly thrown his weight behind the presidency moving to the South.

However, some say he is angling to be Vice to a candidate from the south.

Therefore the decision of a credible organization like the Nigerian Bar Association to withdraw the invitation extended to him is a dent and will question his ability to be fair in power.

 The NBA withdrew the invitation following a petition by some lawyers under the aegis of Open Bar Initiative.

The group described the invitation as a “reward for misrule”, saying the governor represents the very antithesis of what they profess to defend.

The petitioners accused the governor of threatening to abduct Gloria Ballason, a lawyer, “because she had criticised him in a news article” in 2016.

Countdown to 2023, the accusation by the NBA may be a stumbling block as his opponents may bring it up.

However, the governor speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, said he will continue to speak out on national issues whether given the NBA platform or not.

Support has however the way of the governor as Jigawa branch NBA says the withdrawal of the invitation by the national body is unfair.

Garba Abubakar, chairman of the Jigawa NBA branch, said if the decision to withdraw the governor’s invitation is not rescinded, they would boycott the annual conference.

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