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'”.