BY MUSTAPHA KASHIM

Open Letter to Mr. Adetunji Oso, SAN: “Those Who Live in Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones”

Dear Mr. Oso,

I read your recent blog post in which, as scribe of the Egbe Amofin Oodua Governing Council, you reportedly “formally drew the attention of NEC to what you described as a clear, disturbing, and unmistakable display of institutional bias” in favour of Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN specifically citing the distribution of bottled water as campaign material.

With due respect, Learned Silk, you ought to know better than to throw stones while living in a glass house.

You will recall that your group’s adopted aspirant, Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, set this precedent at the very first NEC of this administration in Enugu, November 2024, by distributing branded conference bags. Delegates were required to submit their names and contact details before collecting them and were subsequently added to campaign platforms. No one complained; indeed, the President thanked him publicly.

At Akure, the first NEC of 2025, he distributed desk diaries. Again, no objections. In Ilorin, May 2025, his Project Bar team gave out A4 copies of the Remuneration Order. Still, no protest.

At Benin, November 2025, your adopted aspirant distributed bags, mugs, diaries, and toiletry packs. Once again, silence.

Now suddenly, you raise alarm over bottled water in Maiduguri, under temperatures approaching 40°C a gesture clearly rooted in welfare, not politics. By your own admission, you drank the water too.

It may also interest you that your adopted aspirant arrived in Maiduguri with boxes of diaries meant for distribution but later withdrew them, leaving delegates disappointed. Why then this selective outrage?

This pattern suggests that what is acceptable when done by your candidate becomes objectionable when done by others. That is neither fair nor principled.

And let us not forget AGC 2024 in Lagos, where Aare Akinboro occupied an entire booth distributing umbrellas, caps, water bottles, and using a 360° photo booth to collect delegates’ contact details which were then used to populate Project Bar platforms.

So, with respect, Learned Silk, Aare started this.

While we await the ECNBA election guidelines, no rules have been breached by any of the three aspirants including your adopted candidate.

Water is life. In Maiduguri, it is necessity, not campaign strategy. Kudos to Mrs. Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, for prioritising delegate welfare.

Next NBA event, let Aare bring water we will drink it gladly.

• Mustapha M. Kashim is a past Chairman of NBA Dutse Branch, Secretary of NBA Future of Legal Practice Committee and Co-opted NEC Member.

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