Speakership: Abuja Court Urged To Disqualify Gbajabiamila

THE Abuja Division of the Federal High Court is currently hearing an ex-parte motion seeking to disqualify Femi Gbajabiamila of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from being the Speaker of the House of Representatives
.
Gbajabiamila, it would be recalled, was on Saturday June 6, 2015 elected the party’s sole candidate for the position during a mock election amid protests by some of his opponents.
The lawmakers are expected to elect the new Speaker on Tuesday June 9, 2015.
Justice Abdul Kafarati is presiding over the suit, which was filed before the court by the Registered Trustees of Social Justice and Civil Rights Awareness Initiative.
The group, in the suit filed pursuant to Order 26 Rule 8 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2009, alleged that Gbajabiamila is not morally fit to head the third arm of governance in Nigeria.
They alleged that he was previously “convicted in the state of Georgia for unethical practices and was debarred as a lawyer for 36 months”.
The House of Representatives and the Attorney General of the Federation were also cited as defendants in the matter.
The ex-parte motion is being argued on behalf of the group by Human Rights lawyer, ?Mike Ozehkome (SAN).
In a supporting affidavit deposed to by one Alojie Nmerengira, the plaintiff told the court that its investigations revealed that Gbajabiamila was convicted by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 2007, even as it attached a copy of the order of the court as ‘Exhibit A’.
Nmerengira averred: “That I am the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the plaintiff organisation by virtue of which I am very conversant with the facts deposed herein.
“That the first 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 second defendant is the constitution body created to carry ?out legislative functions for the good governance and advancement of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”