As the eighth legislature winds down and the intrigues and politicking of who succeeds Yakubu Dogara as House Speaker becomes more intense with the aspirants carefully playing their cards to outsmart each other in this game of chess played by unseen hands, Huhuonline.com can now authoritatively report that the race for the leadership of the Green Chamber has narrowed down to two contenders – Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC Lagos) and Hon. Umaru Mohammed Bago, the APC member representing Chanchanga Federal Constituency of Niger State.
But despite the zoning formula which favors Gbaja as the anointed candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Huhuonline.com has learnt from APC sources that a majority of the returning lawmakers have ganged up and are vehemently working against what they see as an imposition by APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and the party’s national leader, Bola Tinubu in foisting Gbaja as the next House speaker. The “Anyone But Gbaja” group comprising some 156 APC lawmakers and an overwhelming majority of the 128 PDP legislators-elect seem to have concluded that Gbaja is a Manchurian candidate, with a criminal past that makes him ineligible to hold the exalted office of Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Already a federal high court in Abuja has been petitioned to rule whether the facts of a 2003 fraud case in the State of Georgia, USA, where Gbajabiamila, then a practicing lawyer in Georgia, USA, was found guilty by the Georgia State Bar of failure to disburse a client’s settlement cheque to the tune of $25,000 rendered him ineligible to hold public office in Nigeria based on Section 66 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. Based on Rule 4-102 (2) of the Georgia State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct, Gbaja was suspended from practicing law in the State of Georgia for three years, in addition to remitting the $25,000 to the client.
In the originating summons brought pursuant to Order 3, Rule 6 and 7 of the Federal High Court and Section 66 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the plaintiff; one Philip Undie, through his lawyer, Ayodele Justice, is praying the court to determine whether Gbaja is eligible to be an elected lawmaker, and by extrapolation, House speaker. The plaintiff joined the House of Representatives, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the ruling APC as co-defendants in the lawsuit against Gbaja. The plaintiff is also praying the court for an order of injunction restraining the House of Representatives and APC from accepting the nomination of Gbaja as an aspirant for the office of House Speaker, among other reliefs sought.
Even as the case is yet to leave the docket of the federal high court, the Gbaja campaign has gone on a public relations offensive, telling anyone who cares to listen that the 2003 fraud case in the USA resulted in a professional disciplinary action and not a criminal conviction, hence the provisions of Section 66 of the 1999 Constitution does not apply in this instance. The pro-Gbaja for speaker campaign buttress their case by citing an August 30, 2010 statement by the State Bar of Georgia (Office of the General Counsel), which they claim absolves Gbaja of any criminal conviction.
The statement, signed by Jenny K. Mittelman, Deputy General Counsel; a copy of which was obtained by Huhuonline.com from the Georgia State Bar website read in part: ”On February 26 2007, the Supreme Court of Georgia entered an order accepting Femi Gbaja’s petition for Voluntary Discipline suspending him from the practice of law in Georgia for a period of 36 months. I have attached a copy of the Court’s order. Mr. Gbaja’s professional discipline was based upon his admitted violation of Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15(1)(Safekeeping Property), and was not related to a criminal conviction. Mr. Gbaja is currently an active member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia.”
The issue in contention here is one of legal semantics – whether professional discipline based on admitted wrongdoing by Gbaja can be inferred as criminal conduct with a criminal conviction. Legal experts told Huhuonline.com that the letter by the Georgia State Supreme Court does not exonerate Gbaja of fraud and criminal wrongdoing. “Rather, what the Georgia supreme court stated unequivocally, is that Gbaja admitted to committing fraud by converting $25,000 of his client’s money and then submitted himself to voluntary disciplinary action, which was a three-year suspension from practicing law in Georgia,” one lawyer told Huhuonline.com, adding: “this does not mean that Gbaja was innocent. If Gbaja was not a lawyer, he could have been charged in a criminal suit, where he would have been prosecuted and convicted for fraud and larceny. The face that the client sought relief through the Georgia State Bar does not invalidate the fact that Gbaja admitted to, and pleaded guilty of fraud.”
It should be recalled that an Abuja High Court last year dismissed a similar lawsuit against Gbaja filed by a group calling itself, Registered Trustees of Social Justice And Civil Rights, when the plaintiffs failed to appear in court to defend their case. It remains to be seen what will happen with the latest lawsuit but some APC lawmakers are already expressing reservations over the possibility of the next House speaker being embroiled in the courts in a protracted legal fracas; and have decided to ditch Gbaja by deflating his towering speakership campaign.
They are now pitching tent with Bago, who is said to have an amiable mien with an unrivaled capacity to be people-centric relationships. Huhuonline.com was told by some APC lawmakers that Bago was very down-to-earth, making the case that the APC leadership should respect the federal character principle by giving the north-central a chance to get the speakership of the 9th assembly. Bago’s campaign hold that the speaker position should be zoned to the North Central since the North-West has Mr. President, the South-West has the Vice President and the Senate President has been zoned to the North-East.
“If APC is to go by popular support and equitable zoning, the 9th speakership will almost seem a perfect hard-earned right of the north-central,” one lawmaker told Huhuonline.com on condition of anonymity, insisting that: “The Senate presidency was zoned to the North-East, being the zone that contributed the highest number of votes after the North-West, as such the speakership position will naturally go to the next in line – the North-Central zone – which produced the second largest votes after the North-East (2,465,599).”
Huhuonline.com understands that Bago secured the endorsement of at least 156 members-elect after a meeting at a secret location in Gwarimpa, Abuja, where all the APC lawmakers pledged to vote for him during the election. After the said meeting, the Bago camp has launched a charm offensive to bring pressure to bear on the presidency as they rally lawmakers from the North Central states to demand compensation for delivering the votes that gave Buhari a second term mandate on Feb 23, 2019. “Yes we have been meeting and we will continue to meet because ours is ideal to ensure equity and fairness among the six geopolitical zones of the country,” Director of Media and Publicity of Bago’s Campaign, Hon. Afam Ogene, told Huhuonline.com, adding: “We believe that Hon Bago is more than qualified to be Speaker, and coming from the North Central that has never occupied the position, we are sure he will be elected.”
Meanwhile, Gbaja is all in and throwing the kitchen sink as his campaign has been very active, touring almost the entire country soliciting support for his candidature. Gbaja has also resorted to primordial and base sentiments, playing up the ethnic and religious sentiments to avoid a repeat of 2015, when he was edged out by Yakubu Dogara. Gbaja has of late been seen more at Muslim events and visiting highly revered Islamic clerics, ostensibly to shore up his Muslim credentials. He recently travelled to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj, where he was pictured leading an Islamic prayer. Gbaja critics and detractors have however been quick to point out that his latest Muslim charm offensive is hypocrisy that stinks to the High Heavens because Gbaja is a known elder in a Pentecostal Church in Lagos. The pro-Gbaja campaign has explained the charge of double faith, saying one of Gbaja’s parents is a Muslim while the other is a Christian.
With the die cast and the stage set, all eyes are now on President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling APC to see which of the two titans gets the nod to be the next House Speakers.
