IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: Civil Society Group Reject Claims of Petition Dismissal Filed Against Deputy Speaker, Gives Clarity

The Civil Society Groups of Good Governance (CSGGG), has rejected claims that the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) has dismissed a petition filed against the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu.

President of the Group, Chief Dominic Ogakwu, in a press statement, Thursday in Abuja, said: “It was a pyrrhic reprieve for the embattled deputy speaker as the LPDC held that the issues raised in the petition were outside its statutory jurisdiction.

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“It is mischievous and a clear case of seeking legal reprieve for allegations that are well documented to claim that the LPDC dismissed claims of certificate fraud and perjury against the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu.

“What the LPDC simply said was that it lacked the statutory jurisdiction to entertain the matter of how Mr. Kalu was enrolled by the Supreme Court as a legal practitioner and obtained his NYSC discharge certificate at about the same time.

“The matter is straightforward: did the Deputy Speaker participate in the NYSC scheme at the same time he was undergoing training at the Nigerian Law School?

“If he did, which he did going by the timeline as evidenced in his NYSC discharge certificate and when he was called to the Bar, do they contravene the provisions of the NYSC Act and the requirements of the Law School programme?

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“Is it possible that Mr. Kalu misled the relevant authorities – the Nigerian Law School, the NYSC and the Body of Benchers, thereby enabling him to obtain an NYSC discharge certificate and subsequently be enrolled on the Roll of Legal Practitioners?

“These are posers that are as plain as daily light which the Deputy Speaker ought to provide clarity to without the attempt to hoodwink and further misled relevant authorities as he did in the past.”

Ogakwu further states: “We wish to state that we have been witnesses to this before. Former Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, denied parading a forged NYSC certificate but later acquiesced to the irrefutable fact and resigned.

“In the recent past, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, caught in the same certificate imbroglio denied the allegations against him, threatened law suit and engaged in all sorts of legal and strong armed gymnastics only to bow to the inevitable.

“We are committed and persuaded that this won’t be any different no matter the occupant of the office. What the LPDC has done is to abdicate its responsibility, but we are undeterred in seeking clarity, accountability and ensuring that only those fit and proper occupy any office for that matter, especially one as high as the Office of the Deputy Speaker.

“We will proceed to the relevant bodies and occupy the National Assembly. We dare say the Heavens will not fall even when judges in the temple of justice have been held up to scrutiny and those found wanting have been shoved off their judicial perch. This won’t be any different.”

SOURCE: BLUEPRINT