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BY: News Peddlers
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| Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu And Emmanuel Moses |
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu's lawyers have invoked the immunity clause in a paternity suit filed in the Delta State High Court's Effurun Division to prevent their client from submitting to a DNA test.
Emmanuel Moses, a 27-year-old man, filed the lawsuit, alleging that the Lagos governor is his biological father. He claimed that his mother, Grace Moses, informed him that Mr. Sanwo-Olu was his father. He testified in court that his mother and Mr. Sanwo-Olu had an affair in 1994 and 1995.
He submitted a 19-paragraph statement claiming Mr. Sanwo-Olu worked for a company in Delta from 1994 to 1995, that he impregnated his mother in 1994, and that his mother lost contact with Mr. Sanwo-Olu when he relocated from Warri.
Following Mr. Moses repeated inquiries about his father's identity, his mother informed him that a Yoruba man known as Jide Sanwo-Olu is his biographical father.
Mr. Moses stated that when he realised the person mentioned by his mother resembled the Lagos governor, he attempted but failed to contact Mr. Sanwo-Olu. He decided to file a lawsuit after several failed attempts. He told the court about the difficulties he faced while being raised by his poor mother alone without financial assistance from Mr. Sanwo-Olu.
He wants a DNA test to prove his claim and has asked Lagos Governor to waive his immunity in exchange for a paternity test.
J.O. Aikpokpo-Martins, his lawyer, asked the court to order Mr Sanwo-Olu to "acknowledge and accord the claimant all the rights of a son." He also asked the court to postpone the hearing until January 17 so that the defendant could conduct a DNA test.
Mr Aikpokpo-Martins stated that the Lagos governor's legal team, Templars Law Firm, had filed a motion to dismiss the case because the governor was unwilling to waive his immunity.
"We anticipate that he will do so if he is certain that he is not the claimant's father. However, he invoked his immunity to say he is immune from lawsuits, and he is not ready to waive it, As a result, they filed an application asking the court not to hear the case. The case should be dismissed by the court," Mr Aikpokpo-Martins explained.
Mr Moses lawyer stated that if Mr Sanwo-Olu agreed to a paternity test, the matter could be resolved amicably, and urged the Lagos governor to take the test.
"There's nothing else to it," Mr Aikpokpo-Martins said. "We ourselves are not prepared. I begged the other side to give us some time to see if this matter could be resolved in the sense that the governor would simply waive his immunity and come for a DNA test."
"If he is certain that he is not the father of the boy, why should he be afraid of submitting himself to a DNA (test)?. We have a situation in which the claimant wants to know who he is and has stated unequivocally in the case that he has no family," he said.
The case was postponed until January 17, 2023, by the court.