EL-Rufai And The Wages Of Sin- YINKA ODUMAKINN

 THE Nigerian Bar Association in an audacious move and a very classic naming and shaming act has withdrawn its invitation to Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, to speak at its conference following protests from some lawyers. The tweet on Thursday announcing the decision read: “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to the Kaduna State Governor, H.E. Nasir El-Rufai, by the 2020 Annual General Conference Planning committee be withdrawn and decision communicated to the Governor.”

                                               

A petition to stop the governor started by a lawyer, Usani Odum, had garnered over 3,150 signatures on Change.Org as of 4.00 pm on Thursday last week. In a separate letter titled: ‘Request to Withdraw the Offer of Platform at the 2020 Annual General Conference of the NBA to Mallam Nasir el-Rufai,’ addressed to the Chairman, Technical Committee on Conference Planning, NBA, Prof. Koyinsola Ajayi, SAN; some lawyers said the governor must not be allowed to speak at the conference. The letter, which was signed by Silas Onu and Auta Nyada, listed 10 allegations against el-Rufai and his son, Bello, who is a Special Adviser to Kaduna Central lawmaker, Senator Uba Sani. They faulted the NBA for inviting el-Rufai, citing his alleged poor human rights record and his inability to stop the killings, particularly in Southern Kaduna. 

The lawyers listed his sins to include serial violations of human rights and reckless statements like his threat against members of the international community that they would return home in body bags if they intervened in the 2019 elections. The NBA has continued what I advocated that Nigerians continue to do when the late Kashamu peers wanted to shut former President Olusegun Obasanjo up for grafting the proper epitaph for the late politician. Boko Haram can invite El-Rufai for their session but let no decent Nigerians give him their platforms. El-Rufai was one of the fresh blood President Obasanjo injected into governance in his time. He showed some zeal in restoring Abuja master plan but his activities were trailed with extreme wickedness. 

I met him on the net in 2010 when former President Yar’Adua fell ill and the cabal around him started monkey business with Nigerians. We started a pressure group of 12 Nigerians which blossomed to 54. The online movement latter became a real organisation at a meeting called by Pastor Tunde Bakare. The Save Nigeria Group engaged the cabal until the National Assembly used the doctrine of necessity to enthrone Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as President. I saw how efficient El-Rufai could be while working with him online. There was no airspace he could not enter to get information. The day they were bringing Yar’Adua to Nigeria, he was downloading every move of the plane to me. But it was in that process that I saw how highly ambitious he could be.

Birthday celebration                   

 

 I cannot forget the day Jonathan was made President and he came to Pastor Bakare’s room at Transcorp. He wanted a list forwarded to the President of about three names from which he could pick a Vice-President. His name was on the list with highest points.

I forgot I have seen him twice in UAE before. The first time was when I attended his 50th birthday celebration. The second was when he solicited a meeting of SNG leadership through me. Pastor Bakare was reluctant at attending but succumbed to pressure from Mr. Jimi Agbaje who was to become the first adversary of El-Rufai and his partner, Jimi Lawal. I saw they were not for any good at the UAE meeting! Thereafter came the 2011 elections during which Major General Muhammadu Buhari picked Pastor Bakare as his running mate and me as his spokesman.

 El-Rufai was by the sides of Pastor Bakare, but throwing bombs at Buhari as “corrupt and unelectable”. By 2015 he turned around a Buhari supporter and had abandoned his 2011 pipe dream of running for president on Labour Party platform, opportunistically using the SNG as a launchpad. He became one of the members of the CPC merger committee for CPC towards the APC. I was named a member without anybody discussing with me. I took a trip to Abuja to explain to other members that I was done with the CPC experiment and I was not going to participate in APC. 

I met El-Rufai and Hadiza Bala-Usman at 3G office and returned to Lagos. Some weeks after this encounter, I met El-Rufai at the Abuja Airport as we were both travelling to London on British Airways; I saw him and Dr. Kayode Fayemi at the lounge and greeted them, but El-Rufai did not answer. As God would always show His sense of humour, we were assigned seats next to each other and we we didn’t exchange a word till we got to London. I was not surprised a year after that he started giving testimony as a governor about