El-Rufai: MULAN Kaduna Branch withdraws from conference, as protesters accuse NBA of working with anti-Nigeria agents

*Lawyers in Yobe fault NEC decision

*Ask national body to apologise to Kaduna Governor

“It is obviously a calculated effort by 2023 desperados largely within the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop El-Rufai from being available as the number two to Southern President who will become President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor. That is why the retired Army officer that blamed Nigeria’s woes not on military but political class is right. The unpatriotic politicians are the ones who are using ethnic and religious unthinking agents to want to burn the same country they seek govern. Who therefore are major fools?” The source, who insisted on anonymity, asked.

The Kaduna State Branch of Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) has announced its withdrawal from the forthcoming annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over the dis-invitation of the State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, as one of the speakers at the conference.

At a press conference in Kaduna on Saturday, the group through its Chairman, Abbas Masanawa, noted that the decision of the NBA National Executive Committee to rescind an invite based on unsubstantiated allegations and without fair hearing from the Governor was deemed as parochial, sentimental and tainted with favoritism and ethnoreligious considerations.

The Muslim lawyers also wondered why the NBA chose to keep silent in the face of the killings going on in the Northeast, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger and Birnin Gwari, in Kaduna State but chose to give surreptitious ethnic cover to the Southern Kaduna attacks, as if lives matter more in some parts of the country over others.

Speaking further, the group wondered why the NBA invited Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state to speak at the conference in spite of his past utterances where he described Rivers as a Christian state but decided to dis-invite El-Rufai.

According to them, the NBA conference would have afforded lawyers the platform to interrogate Governor El-Rufai on some of the allegations leveled against him by some members of the association, rather than shutting him out after inviting him to the event earlier.

The group insisted that based on the NBA NEC decision, it is left with no option than to instruct its members across Kaduna State to withdraw their participation in the Association’s forthcoming conference.

Yobe State Branch of NBA has also joined the protest as it calls on national secretariat of the Lawyers’ body to set aside its decision and apologies to the Kadunare State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

In a statement signed by its chairman U.N. Lukman, the Yobe NBA said, “The decision of the NEC is against the pillars of natural justice in the presumption of innocent and fair airing as enshrined in constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and equal opportunity to all citizens of this country.

“At no time during the NEC meeting that our NEC members from Damaturu branch were afforded right to vote on this resolution which consider as thin air, lies and deception against the personofMal Nasir El-Rufa’I,” Yobe NBA said.

A source in Abuja described the NBA, as presently constituted, as a body not to be trusted.

He said, “They have only taken side with evil minded elements spreading lies about Southern Kaduna and do not want the truth to be told. Knowing El-Rufai for who he is, they know that bringing him to a platform as hitherto respected as NBA annual general conference was capable of him telling the convincing truths about the evil they do against themselves targging on Fulani people and so they moved and this NBA took side with them. It has lost the respect we formerly accorded it,” he said.

He also added by asking, “Corruption is worst than terrorism. NBA had a president that had been on trial for corruption and it tolerated him for as long as its tenure lasted. The petition it believed to withdraw El-Rufai’s speakership even said Governor Zulum is better than El-Rufai to show you the extent of the Lawyers’ parochialism and double standard. I insist that the anti-Nigeria elements that Afenifere and Ohaneze stand for are working in coalition with some Middle Belt and sadists of Southern Kaduna including Obadiah Mailafiya to cause Civil War in the country.

“This is the reason for all the unguarded utterances and actions you are seeing. It however should not have been NBA. How now can anyone convince Nigerians that lawyers of this NBA clime are not supposed to be treated like rebels in the country for collaborating with efforts to destabilize Nigeria?

“It has been happening in succession.  It started with back-end server led by Atiku, then followed by Sowore’s #RevolutionNow for change of government, Mailafiya’s untrue allegation of a Northern governor as commander of Boko Haram, then Afenifere leaders threatening there will be no election in South West in 2023 I there is no restructuring and now this NBA’s naked rebellion against El-Rufai.

“It is obviously a calculated effort by 2023 desperados largely within the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop El-Rufai from being available as the number two to Southern President who will become President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor. That is why the retired Army officer that blamed Nigeria’s woes not on military but political class is right. The unpatriotic politicians are the ones who are using ethnic and religious unthinking agents to want to burn the same country they seek govern. Who therefore are major fools?” The source, who insisted on anonymity, asked.