By Suleiman Umaru
The crisis and killings in Southern Kaduna state by Bandits appears to have claimed the first casualty. This is because the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, had had withdrawn its earlier invitation sent to Nasir El-Rufai, the All Progressive Congress, APC, governor of Kaduna , the state where the Association had planned the Conference between August 26 and 29, 2020 .
There had been accussations and counter-accussations pointing at the governor of having master-minded the crisis in the areaa. The situation in the southern Kaduna is so bad that a whole village was said to have been razed down but the governor, his accusers said, never made any concerted effort or show commitment to bring those involved to book, an indication that he may have been enjoying what is happening in the state.
Many Lawyers in the state may have taken advantage of the NBA Conference in the state to hit back at El-Rufai, to ensure that he did not participate in it. They got it right. They were said to have petitioned the NBA , Leadership questioning El-Rufai’s Human Rights records and Commitment to the Rule of Law.
They were said to have also accused the governor of not doing enough to stop the killings in southern Kaduna. The case of El-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor may have been made worse by the Courts which HADaccused the state government under his close watch to have illegally arrested and incarcerated people .
Acting on the petition, the leadership of the NBA, had no option but to withdraw the earlier invitation sent to the governor for the August 26 -29 , Conference in the state. The decision was said to have been taken on Wednesday, August 19, 2020.
The Value News learnt that the decision has been communicated to him, that he may no longer be part of the Conference , which has the likes of Vice President Yem Osinbajo, a Professor of Law, Tanko Mohammad, Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN,, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ABbubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and minister of Justice as Speakers .
Other people slated by the Association Organising Committee to speak at the Conference were Ike Ekweremadu, former Deputy Senate President, Nyesom Wike, governor of oil-rich Rivers state, Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra state and Running Mate of Abubakar Atitu, in the 2019 Presidential election on the Platform of The Opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
Also on the list of the speakers are Tnde Bakare, a celrgy man, Oby Ezekwesili, an activist and former minister of Education under the Obasanjo’s Administration and Salamatu Suleiman, immediate Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Commissioner for Political Affairs Peace and Security.
In apparent reaction to the NBA , decision to the withdraw the invitation earlier extended to him to be a guest speaker, at the Kaduna Conference, El-Rufai, had acussed the leadership of the Association of being biased. He had told those that cares to listen that with NBA Platform or not, he will continue t”o make his voice heard on things the country needs to do for its progress’’.
Mohammadu Sanusi, a former Emir of the Ancient Kingdom of Kano, who was dethroned by Abdullahi Ganduje, an APC, governor of the state, may have alluded to the removal of the governor on the list of the NBA, approved Speakers on the the Conference, to the southern Kaduna crisis and killings , praying for for peace to return to the war thorn part of the state.
The former Kano Emir said the disinvitation of El- Rufai, his close ally and friend to the NBA, Conference in the state was a bad signal to the 19 northern states governors as he had ”criticised the Association for taking such a decision by relying on mere hearsay and petition from few Lawyers in the state” .
The radical former Emir may have taken advantage of his recent visit to the state to see the Kaduna governor , to express his heart felt Appreciation to him for taking the pain to come to Awe in Nassarawa state where he was banished to live for the rest of his life by the Court when he was dethroned by Governor Ganduje to speak out. The governor was said to have accompanied him to Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve center , which is his new home .
An angry Sanusi who could not hide his feelings over the NBA treatment of his friend for 40 years had said , that ‘’ it is wrong to withdraw he invitation the Association had extended to the governor without giving him fair hearing to defend himself’’.
Appealing to the leadership of the NBA, to handle the matter with caution, he opined that ’’ it is the only way to prevent it from degenerating into ethnic and religious concerns’’.
He disclosed that the Lawyers has lost the opportunity of interrogating the governor and Collectively rub minds to identify areas that needed to be addressed for the purpose of good governance.
Appearing on Channels Television recently,Chinonye Obiagwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and member of the NBA, National Executive Council, NEC, had justified the disinvitation of the Kaduna state governor to the Conference because of his alleged ‘’consistent disobedience to Court Orders, stressing that ‘’it has got nothing to do with the crisis and killings in southern Kaduna.
The Legal Luminary may have unbarred his mind when he said that if he has his way, he would have gone further to disinvite the likes of Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and minister of Justice because of the way and manner in which the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration, in which he is a key player, has disobeyed Court Orders.
‘’It is on record that more than 50 Court Orders had been disobeyed by the present government under the close watch of the minister’’, he has said. A not too happy SAN, who could not hide his feelings had queried, ‘how will you get an Attorney General of the Federation to come to the NBA Conference and sit with the Lawyers to talk when he believes ‘’ that national security takes precedence over the Rule of Law and Human Rights’’. He noted that as a pressure group, the Association had acted based on its motto which is ‘’to promote the Rule of Law’’.
Political Observers believe that the disinvitation of El-Rufai, to the NBA Conference, holding in his home state, was a signal to other governors who have been identified as disobeying Court Orders that it is no longer going to be business as usual.
Obiagwu may have hit the nail on the head when he said , ‘’ NBA would no longer fold its arms and watch government officials consistently disobey Court Orders’’ .