Branches of the Nigerian Bar Association in Katsina, Ikeja, Abeokuta,
Kano, Port Harcout and other major towns on Sunday said they would
attend the NBA annual general meeting starting on Wednesday.
The
groups, in separate interviews with our correspondents, faulted the call
by the Kaduna State branch of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria
for all Muslim lawyers to withdraw from the conference because of the
NBA’s withdrawal of the invitation to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir
El-Rufai, who was initially one of the speakers at the meeting.
But
the branch of the association in Bauchi insisted on its position that
it would not attend the conference if the NBA failed to rescind its
decision to withdraw El-Rufai’s invitation.
The NBA had, at its
meeting on Thursday, withdrawn El-Rufai’s invitation following a
petition against him by some lawyers, who cited his poor handling of
killings in Southern Kaduna.
The association’s decision had
generated diverse reactions with the governor’s Special Adviser on Media
and Communications, Mr.Muyiwa Adekeye in a statement on Thursday,
saying it was as one-sided.In the statement titled, ‘Mallam El-Rufai
will continue to contribute to the national conversation,’ Adekeye said
the NBA took the decision without listening to the other side.
The
Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria also faulted the NBA, saying the
association’s decision was irresponsible.But groups, including the
Southern Kaduna Peoples Union and the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project, lauded the NBA for standing on the side of
justice.But on Sunday, branches of the NBA differed on the call by MULAN
for the boycott of the conference.
We’re attending, there are other competent persons that can be invited – Katsina NBA
The
NBA in Katsina said the branch would attend the association’s annual
national conference, adding that there were other people that could be
invited.
The association’s Assistant Secretary, Barrister Isah
Ibrahim, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “The NBA Katsina and all
its affiliates are attending the congress. We are not part of the
boycott. The call for boycott is just by a minute faction of the Kaduna
NBA and we here in Katsina are not part of the call for the boycott.
“The
issue of whom to invite for the NBA conference is the prerogative of
the annual general conference committee subject to the approval of the
National Executive Council of the NBA.
“Governor El-Rufai was
dropped because of issues concerning insecurity in Kaduna, but we
believe that there are other qualified and competent personalities who
are really performing and who could be invited to deliver lectures.
On
his part, the Chairman of the Osogbo branch of the NBA, Abdulraman
Okunade, said personally, he was opposed to the decision of the NEC, but
he would attend the conference.
Although we are part of the minority, we will attend – Kano branch
Also,
the Kano branch of the association said it would attend the
conference.The state NBA chairman, Aminu Gadanya, who said this in a
telephone interview with The PUNCH in Kano on Sunday, said, “Even
though we are part of the minority, we are participating in the
conference because it is binding on us.”
The Chairman of NBA,
Port Harcourt branch, Prince Nyekwere, while speaking to one of our
correspondents on Sunday, also said the branch would attend the
meeting.Reacting to a petition calling for the withdrawal of invitations
to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Rivers State Governor,
Nyesom Wike, Nyekwere said the attention of the NBA had not been brought
to such a petition
Wike doesn’t need anybody’s permission to attend NBA programmes – Commissioner
On
his part, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and
Communication, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, in an interview with The PUNCH,
said, “His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom
Wike, does not need anybody’s permission to attend a programme of the
NBA. He is a member of the body of benchers and a seasoned legal
practitioner.”
The immediate past Chairman of the Abeokuta branch
of NBA, Emmanuel Olualade, supported the body’s decision on
El-Rufai.Olualade, who spoke to one of our correspondents on Sunday,
said he attended the NEC meeting where the resolution was made.
He
explained that the way the NBA was structured, no branch had the
power to challenge the resolution of the NEC ,except if the decision
affected it directly.
Tribe doesn’t matter in law profession – Ikeja branch
Also,
the Chairman of the Ikeja NBA, Mr Dele Oloke, said the branch had no
other option but to abide by the decision of the association’s NEC on
El-Rufai.
Oloke said, “For us, when NEC decides, under our
constitution, only another NEC of the NBA can change it. Those who want
us to re-invite Nasir El-Rufai should forget about it. Naturally, every
lawyer should abide by the decision of NEC, if your wig and gown are
worth the cloth with which they were sewn. And it doesn’t matter your
tribe.
El-Rufai must be re-invited to speak at conference, Bauchi branch insists
But
the NBA branch in Bauchi called on its national leadership to be
promoters of the rule of law and not to be driven by parochial
sentiments.In an interview on Sunday, the branch Chairman, Abubakar
Abdulhamid, said the position of the group was still the same as the one
in the statement it issued on Friday.
The branch in a statement
by Abdulhamid, and the branch Secretary, Shansuddeen Magaji, said the
NBA should be “seen as promoting the principles of the rule of law and
attainment of justice to all manner of people irrespective of cultural,
tribal, religious or political inclination.
The association also
called on the NEC re-invite El-Rufai and apologise to its members for
the “unpopular decision” of withdrawing the invitation to him.
Sokoto branch decides today
But
Chairman of the Sokoto branch, Sambo Mohammed, in an a chat with The
PUNCH said the group would on Monday (today) decide whether it would
attend the conference or not.
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