Speakership aspirant, Bago, claims opponents engaging in smear campaigns against him

Umaru Bago, an All Progressives Congress (APC) member vying for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has alleged that there are attempts to smear his image under the guise of a judicial inquest.

In a statement on Tuesday by the spokesperson for his campaign organisation, Victor Ogene, he described the move as a weak attempt to derail Bago’s principled quest for equity, justice and fairness in electing principal officers of the National Assembly.

He said the action of “these desperados would, in the end, only be tantamount to searching for a pin in a haystack.”

“The judicial gambit was 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.

“Instead of frontally confronting this brutal fact, which is currently the subject of litigation before the Federal High Court, Abuja, they have rather embarked on a voyage of smear campaign and mudslinging against the person of Bago, in the mistaken belief that it would gain for them the traction which endless forum shopping and endorsement trips have so far failed to achieve.

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“We would be glad to accept service concerning this suit, as we have already instructed our legal team to take it on, on an accelerated basis.

“It is also our charge to our lawyers to commence defamation processes against the purveyors of this mindless falsehood.

“This would be in direct opposition to the stance of an ‘anointed’ aspirant who, according to reports, besides evading service since May 24, 2019, when a case was instituted against him, is said to have employed harassment, inducement, and falsehood to scare the plaintiff off the case.

“Notedly, the current turn of things may well provoke a proper inquiry by the media, governmental agencies, Non-governmental Organisations, and the public into the doggy issues of dual personality, multiple dates of birth, social security number fraud and several other infractions which have trailed the said aspirant.

“We reiterate that for us at the Bago Campaign Organisation, 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, House of Representatives.”

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