Obasanjo shuns NBA conference after calls for his removal

Obasanjo’s Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, who spoke to the Punch said on Saturday, August 29 confirmed that Obasanjo did not attend or speak at the conference.

“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was obviously not at the conference but I don’t know why he did not attend the event,” Akinyemi said.

Daily Times reports that the conference which has ended attracted a lot of reactions following the selection of the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai.

Some lawyers called for his removal due to his government’s failure to stop the killings in Southern Kaduna.

READ ALSO El-Rufai: MURIC blasts NBA for inviting Obasanjo, Wike

Bowing to pressure, the NBA tweeted its decision, “The National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association at its ongoing meeting resolves that the invitation to the Kaduna State Governor, H.E. Nasir el-Rufai by the 2020 Annual General Conference Planning committee be withdrawn and decision communicated to the governor.”

El-Rufai’s removal also sparked outrage for some lawyers who called for the removal of Obasanjo and Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike.

The Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria also asked the NBA to remove Obasanjo and Wike, from the list of speakers at the conference.

MULAN President, Ibrahim Abikan, in an interview, said his association objected to having Obasanjo and Wike as speakers at the conference because they were allegedly guilty of the same allegations filed against el-Rufai.

“We insist that if any standard is set for withdrawing el-Rufai, the same should apply to other speakers too.

“El-Rufai is a public officer and any other person who has the same record of allegations of human rights abuses should also be disqualified. We expect that the same standard should apply to Obasanjo and Wike,” Abikan, a Professor of Law at the University of Ilorin, said.

Daily Times gathered that the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, spoke at the conference, Obasanjo did not, while Wike sent a representative.