Speakership tussle: Fresh suit seeks to disqualify Gbajabiamila

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has been asked to disqualify Femi Gbajabiamila from vying to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 9th National Assembly.

The court, in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/539/2019, was specifically urged to declare that Gbajabiamila, who was cited as the 1st defendant, “is not fit and proper to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives and/or as Speaker of the House of Representatives”. Equally joined as defendants in the matter were the House of Reps, Attorney-General of the Federation, and All Progressives Congress, APC.

The plaintiff, Mr Philip Undie, who identified himself as a taxpayer, in a 25-paragraph affidavit, told the court that he has evidence that the 1st defendant was convicted by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 2007. Consequently, he asked the court to determine “whether upon the construction of section 66 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, vis-à-vis the judgement of the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia, Atlanta, USA, in suit No. SO6YO829 in the matter of Femi Gbaja, the 1st defendant is the fit and proper person to be elected to the House of Representatives and/or to the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.” Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.