Africa Press-Nigeria:
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) said it has uncovered a subterranean attempt by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to replace Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State with the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum.
Recall that MURIC had earlier condemned NBA’s decision to drop El-Rufai from the list of speakers at its 2020 Virtual Annual General Conference (AGC) which is billed to take place from 26th to 29th August, 2020.
MURIC had further called on Northern Muslim lawyers to boycott the conference and cautioned NBA against any attempt to divide Nigerian Muslims.
And in a statement on Sunday signed by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, and issued to DAILY POST, MURIC said, “The alleged attempt to replace Governor El-Rufai with Governor Zulum has already failed.
“It is sheer divide et impera. It is dead on arrival. It has suffered the same fate as attempts to separate Muslims of the South from their brothers in the North. It will never work.
“The hadith describes Muslims as a single building wherein all parts of the structure support one another or as the anatomy of a man in whom all other parts feel the pain whenever a single part suffers dislocation. Our message to NBA is this: You cannot honour a Muslim to add salt to the injury of another Muslim.
“NBA wants to rob Peter to pay Paul. It has backfired. Already, some states in Northern Nigeria have already threatened to pull out of the fast-approaching virtual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over the dropping of Governor Nasir El-Rufai from the list of speakers. These include Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna and still counting.
“Our advice to the NBA leadership is to do the needful. Apologise to El-Rufai and re-invite him. He has been unjustly treated. NBA still has 72 hours to go. It is not too late to eat the humble pie. NBA acted in bad faith. The planning committee should have done its home work properly. It is a failure of logistics.
“Besides, it is extremely immoral to ask El-Rufai to stay away after inviting him in the first place. Afterall, he did not lobby for the lecture. Put yourselves in his place and stop grandstanding.
“Or was the invitation a trap all along? Was it an attempt to score Southern Kaduna another undeserved political point? If so, it is a gross miscalculation. NBA must go back to the drawing board.”
MURIC also decried the inclusion of Governor Nyesom Wike in the list of speakers at the conference, adding, “NBA has no business inviting Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to speak at its conference. Wike’s excesses are legend. When it comes to democratic norms, Wike is a square peg, NBA is a round hole. Wike and NBA should not be seen together.
