Christopher Oji
A group has called for the removal of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, as speakers in the planned 2020 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
In a statement jointly signed by Chairman of Radical Agenda Movement In the Nigerian Bar Association (RAMINBA), Mr. Adesina Ogunlana and Secretary, Ayo Ademiluyi, hailed the dis-invitation to Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
“That decision in our respectful view is a sanction against poor leadership approach in the handling of the genocidal southern Kaduna crisis in Governor’s El-Rufai’s jurisdiction as well as a demonstrable penchant for disrespect for rule of law and high-handedness in official capacity.
“We are, however, baffled that the list of speakers at the conference still retains the names of Balogun Olusegun Obasanjo, retired general and former president and others.
“We are persuaded that these men by their antecedents vis-a vis the respect for and promotion for the rule of law and due process are not fit for invitation as speakers in a function such as the conference of Nigerian Bar Association, which mantra remains promoting the rule of law.
“We also hold that using persons such as the above-named Obasanjo and others as speakers on the platform of the Nigerian Bar Association is a huge disservice to the original intendment and core purpose of the Nigerian Bar Association itself, particularly as regards the campaign for supremacy of the concept of the rule of law and the sanctity of judicial pronouncements.
“Balogun Obasanjo is known in Nigeria’s most recent history to have launched some of the most brutal assaults on the concept of rule of law. Kindly recall that it was Obasanjo, sworn to uphold the Constitution of the land, who refused to obey the Supreme Court order for the release of the N21 billion Lagos State Local Government funds illegally and oppressively withheld by his administration.