Lagos deputy speaker sues Banire over forgery of 2015 election withdrawal letter

Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Wasiu Eshilokun Sanni, has dragged the National Legal Adviser of All Progressives Congress (APC), MrMuizBanire, before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja over forgery of his purported withdrawal letter from the 2015 election into Lagos Island Constituency 1 of the House.
Sanni, who filed the suit alongside two APC chieftains – Babatunde John Kehinde and Alhaji KazeemOlatunji, is asking the court to declare Banire as not a fit and proper person to keep occupying the exalted office of the party’s National Legal Adviser owing to the forgery of the purported letter of withdrawal, series of anti-party activities and breach of several provisions of the APC Constitution.
In a 37-paragraph supporting affidavit detailing Banire’s atrocities, Sanni averred that having scaled through the nomination and screening of aspirants processes, he contested the primaries of APC on December 2, 2014 along with seven other aspirants and emerged as the party’s candidate for election into Lagos Island Constituency 1 of the House of Assembly by pooling 186 votes out of the total number of 279 valid votes cast, with his closest rival, one Akeem Masha pooling a distant 70 votes.
Sanni said upon the announcement of his name as the winner of the primaries by the party, he received several congratulatory messages including from the then APC flag bearer for the 2015 Governorship election in the State, MrAkinwunmiAmbode (now Governor), while the party issued him with the nomination form as its candidate for the election.
However, Sanni said in gross violation of his legal right as the duly elected candidate of the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unlawfully substituted his name with that of Masha as the candidate of the party for the election based on a false withdrawal letter caused to be written by Banire in his capacity as National Legal Adviser to INEC.
The deponent said the withdrawal letter dated January 9, 2015 had his purported signature and name, and there was no time he wrote such.
Dissatisfied with the development, Sanni approached the Federal High Court in Lagos and in a judgment in suit with reference number FHC/L/CS/34/2015, Justice Mohammed Buba upheld the reliefs sought and ordered his reinstatement as the lawful candidate of the APC.
Sanni said ever since Banire unlawfully substituted his name and caused a purported withdrawal letter to be written, the party was yet to set any machinery in motion for him to explain or justify why the letter was written, adding that by the development, Banire had betrayed the confidence reposed in him as the National Legal Adviser and his standing as a legal practitioner, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a bencher.