BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – As the count down to the Proclamation of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari draws near and the contest for the Speakership of the House of Representatives gets hotter, the Hon Femi Gbajabiamila for Speaker campaign organisation on Wednesday in Abuja declared that the endorsed candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has never been accused of corruption and has no corruption case hanging on his neck in Nigeria or anywhere around the world.
The team specifically said that Hon Gbajabiamila has not committed perjury and has never committed perjury in Nigeria or any country of the world, adding that he has never been convicted.
Director General of the Gbaja campaign team, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC-Kano), who stated these at a press conference, said the clarification became necessary owing to series of reports alleging that Gbajabiamila was disbarred by the State Bar of Georgia in the United States of America for fraud and subsequently convicted.
According to Jibrin; “In the last few weeks, the media had been washed with a reoccurring fabrication of false accusations and outright lies against the person of the Leader House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.”
He noted that the latest was a live press conference addressed by the Coalition of United Political Party (CUPP), adding that but for the publicity the press conference attracted, the Gbaja campaign team would have simply ignored the baseless and unfounded allegations.
Jibrin said that the campaign team has petitioned the Inspector General of Police and other security agencies to get to the bottom of the matter and take all necessary action against CUPP and its sponsors.
Jibrin further said; “For the benefit of doubt, we wish to once again state emphatically that Femi Gbajabiamila has never been convicted for any crime in the United States of America, Nigeria or any other country around the world for that matter.
“He was eligible to contest in all previous elections he won and indeed eligible and qualified to contest for the office of Speaker House of Representatives in the 9th Assembly. “The State Bar of Georgia has also written and categorically stated that there is no criminal conviction in the matter relating to Gbajabiamila and he is currently an active member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia.”
Jibrin said the Gbaja team is concerned that those behind the game are merely trying to drag the judiciary and judges to what is clearly a hatched job thus advised the judiciary not to allow itself to be mixed in such cocktail of dirt.
The Campaign Director General said Gbaja has instructed his lawyers to take every necessary legal step against all those involved, including their three parliamentary conspirators and sponsors to seek redress and sue for defamation with immediate effect.
According to Jibrin: “Indeed Gbajabiamila on his own has put this matter out there in the public domain in the biography titled fearless written by Wale Okediran, a former colleague six years ago.
“Whatever they choose to do, and however, Gbajabiamila and the Deputy Majority Leader, Rep. Idris Wase (APC- Plateau) will be on the floor on the 11th live and direct to be elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.
“They are to take over from Speaker Dogara, who ceases to be Speaker from Thursday, June 6, 2019 after our valedictory session.”
The campaign DG said Hon Gbajabiamila has been endorsed by President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC National leadership, governors, his colleagues members-elect and other stakeholders across party lines.
