Honourable Mohammed Umaru Bago representing Chanchanga federal constituency, Niger state, has described as ‘smear campaign’ a suit seeking to stop him from contesting for the 9th speakership of the House of the Representatives.
Bago, one of the frontline aspirants, is facing a suit instituted at the federal high court on Monday by an Abuja-based legal practitioner Paul Ajiroba seeking his disqualification from the race.
The petitioner wants the court to void his election and stop him from seeking such esteemed office for allegedly lacking the character and pedigree to occupy such office.
It alleged that Bago misappropriated funds deposited under his watch at Afribank Bank now Polaris Bank and was allegedly dismissed by the bank.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/598/2019, with Bago, All Progressives Congress (APC) and Polaris Bank Plc as 1st to 3rd respondents and filed on Monday June 3, 2019, the plaintiff asked the court to determine:
“Whether the first defendant is qualified to spire and to run for the office of a member of the House of Representatives since 2011, having been dismissed or relieved from his employment from Afribank Nigeria Plc (now Polaris Bank) for misappropriation, conversion of depositors’ money to personal use and related offences,
“Whether by virtue of the sack, dismissal or compulsory relive of the first defendant from the employment of the Afribank Plc (now Polaris Bank) for financial misappropriation, conversion of depositors funds to personal use and financial impropriety, the first defendant is not disqualified from running for the office of Member, House of Representatives, or even Speaker of the House”.
But in a swift reaction, Bago Campaign Organization dismissed the suit saying it is a feeble attempt by desperate persons to derail Bago’s ‘principled quest for equity, justice and fairness in electing principal officers of the National Assembly’.
A statement signed by the spokesman of the organisation, Hon Victor Afam Ogene stated that the smear campaign and mudsling were baseless attempts at dimming the shine of Bago’s decade long sparkling career that cuts across three banks.
“We make bold to state that the action of these desperados would, in the end, only be tantamount to searching for a pin in a haystack.
“We observe that the judicial gambit is a last ditch attempt aimed at injecting life into an ebbing campaign of one of the speakership aspirants, who is being haunted by his past profile of proven conviction by the Supreme Court of Georgia for willfully stealing a client’s $25,000.”
Further, the organization said it has instructed its legal team to commence defamation processes against the sponsors of the smear campaign, adding that unlike those sponsors its principal would not resort to intimidation and harassment of the plaintiff.
Speaking on the integrity of Bago it said: We have no baggage to carry despite devious attempts to foist one on us. In fact, we welcome an inquest into the ‘past’ and ‘present’ of aspirants to the exalted office of speaker of the House of Representatives”.
