Mr. Emmanuel Sanwu-Olu, who claimed that the Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo- Olu, is his biological father, has taken the case to court following the refusal of the governor to undergo a DNA.
The young man, who said he cannot continue to live without his father owning up, has asked the court to compel Governor Sanwo-Olu to prove that he is not his father.
A senior lawyer, John Aikpokpo in the suit number: EHC/148/2022, filed on behalf of the young man, said his client had claimed that the current governor while working at a private company operating in Delta State from 1994 to 1995, dated and impregnated his mother, Grace Moses and disappeared.
Emmanuel made the assertions while speaking with journalists at the premises of the Delta State High Court 2 sitting in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, The Punch reports.
According to him, his mother, who hails from Oleri community in the Udu Local Government Area, maintained that she had him for Sanwo-Olu before she married another man for whom she had other children.
“An order directing and compelling the defendant to acknowledge and accord the claimant all the rights of a son in accordance to all the laws applicable whether customarily, statutorily, or constitutionally.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from further denying the parenthood of the claimant.”
As stated in the statement of claim attached to the writ, the claimant alleged that Governor Sanwo-Olu had an amorous relationship with a girl known as Grace Moses from Oleri village near Warri metropolis, when he was a staff of a private company operating in Warri and its environs in Delta State from 1994 to 1995.
Emmanuel claimed that the said Grace Moses eventually became pregnant for Sanwo-Olu in 1994 to the defendant’s knowledge and without any form of recriminations from him, adding that shortly after, the defendant left Warri and Grace Moses eventually lost contact with him to date.
Aikpokpo-Martin, who said he had earlier filed a motion to strike out the matter on the grounds that the governor was not ready to wave his immunity, added that he had also filed an application seeking an order for the governor to wave his immunity to come for a DNA test.
The lawyer, however, disclosed that his client’s only wish is for Sanwo-Olu to his paternity saying, “nothing more to it.”
The lawyer’s words: “We are expecting that he (the governor) will do that if indeed, he is sure that he is not the father of the claimant.
“But unfortunately, he invoked his immunity to say he is immune against lawsuits and he is not ready to wave it.
“Upon that, they brought the application that the court should not hear the matter, and that the court should strike out the matter.”
“From now till the next adjourned date, which is January 17, let’s see whether morally his conscience can be appealed to, or bring himself forward for a DNA test with Emmanuel. It does not need to be in the press. It can be done quietly. Nobody wants to actually make noise with him but he has actually extremely proved very difficult to scientific verification with the claimant.
“If it happens that Emmanuel is not his son, he goes home. It’s a very simple thing. But if it’s his own, then the young man will be happy that at least, he knows where he comes from. By then, he now has the power and authority to go into the Sanwo-Olu family as a member of the family.”