Speakership: Group ask court to disqualify Femi Gbajabiamila over US indictment

The Registered Trustees of Social Justice and Civil Rights Awareness Initiative has dragged the APC candidate for the House of Representative seat, Femi Gbajabiamila before an Abuja High Court, asking the court to disqualify him from vying for speakership over his alleged indictment by a court in Georgia state, US, for unethical practices while he was practicing law in the states.

According to the documents filed by the group, Mr Gbajabiamila was convicted and disbarred for 36 months. The group say they carried out a detailed background check on him after he was nominated to head Nigeria in such a huge capacity as House of Representative Speaker.

Vanguard reports that the case which is currently being heard at the Abuja High Court and presided over by Justice Abdul Kafarati, was filed by Human Rights lawyer, Chief ‎Mike Ozehkome, SAN on behalf of the group headed by Mr Alojie Nmerengira.

Excerpts from the court document filed by the group below

“That I am the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the plaintiff organization by virtue of which I am very conversant with the facts deposed herein. That the 1st defendant is a member of the House of Representatives who nurses the ambition of becoming the Speaker of the House in the next Assembly.

That the 2nd defendant is the constitution body created to carry ‎out legislative functions for the good governance and advancement of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That the 3rd defendant is the Chief Law Officer of the Federation that ensures the sue enforcement of our Laws so that the nation does not fall into the pit of lawlessness. That as a sensible and responsible organisation, my board deemed it proper that to achieve the objective of the organisation, that we ‎should intervene in public interest litigation in deserving situations. That few days ago it came to the public domain that the 1st defendant was a leading candidate to the position of the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

That my organisation, following the ‎wind of change that has pervaded the political environment in Nigeria, deemed it proper to carry out a background check on the leading candidates for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives. That I discovered that the 1st defendant ‎was a lawyer and practiced in the United States of America, particularly in the state of Georgia. That upon further enquiry, I discovered that the 1st defendant was convicted in the state of Georgia for unethical practices and was debarred for ‎36 months. A copy of the order of the Supreme Court of Georgia to that effect is hereby attached and marked ‘Exhibit A'”.