A policy group in Nigeria, Conference of Civil Society for Transparency and Accountability (COCTA) has rejected claims that the law license of Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu was suspended by the State of Georgia because of fraud.
COCTA in a statement signed by Comrade Haruna Okatahi, Director of Strategic Communications, on Wednesday, noted that Gbajabiamila stopped practising law in Georgia because he returned to Nigeria to serve his constituency and the country.
The group added that the allegation against the former Speaker of the House of Representatives was a figment of the imagination of those who are seeking to destabilise the country.
“The attention of the Conference of Civil Society for Transparency and Accountability has been drawn to a malicious report obviously intended to cast aspersion on the character of the person of the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila.
“Allegedly, Gbajabiamila’s license to practice as a lawyer in the American state of Georgia has been rescinded by the State Bar because of fraudulent acts and other contraventions.
“Our response to this malicious claim is basically to set the records straight so that the public is not misinformed, especially the lovers of democracy. Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who was the former speaker of the House of Representatives, was a vibrant lawmaker who led the most rancour-free house since the advent of the fourth republic.
COCTA noted that “The report claims that Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila was barred from practising law in the United States of America because he allegedly stole an unspecified amount of money from a client. A similar publication was circulated in the past but his detractors failed in their bid to tarnish his political image even then.
“Now, having been appointed as the Chief of Staff to the president, he has become the target of these agents of distraction just to mud-sling against his hard-earned reputation. We urge these merchants of falsehood to desist from such and allow the formidable team being set up by Mr. President to focus on their jobs in order to deliver Nigeria from the economic quagmire that she finds herself in.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the character of Honourable Gbajabiamila is not in doubt in any way as his constituency elected him for the record sixth time before being appointed by the President to serve as his Chief of Staff. We wonder why such a revelation is coming at such a time when he has been elevated to such an esteemed position that is pivotal to the success of the #RenewedHope administration.
COCTA urged the Tinubu administration to continue with its ongoing reforms. “We see this as nothing but the deliberate orchestration of mischief makers determined to drag his good name into the mud and distract him from his divine mission of assisting Mr President in the arduous task of coordinating good governance in the country.
“Hon. Gbajabiamila is a man of exceptional pedigree and of the highest professional standards, a factor that helped him earn the trust of Mr President as well as his colleagues in the past dispensation as the Speaker of the then ninth House of Representatives.
“Such piece of information is not enough to overshadow the good works of one of the most eminent of personalities and we of the Conference of Civil Society for Transparency and Accountability, have chosen to stand by him and urge his traducers and detractors to abandon such a quest as it does not hold water is dead on arrival.
“Mr President is a man of extraordinary wisdom and comprehends exceptionally the many plots of political opponents as he has circumvented many in his political ascendancy, so we expect him to overlook this last one and focus on delivering on his mandate of renewed hope as promised.”
