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HE REGISTERED TO VOTE IN JULY! US councilman refuses to resign despite pursuing political office in Nigeria

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Louisville councilman, Vitalis Lanshima refuses to resign



A Nigerian Louisville councilman, Vitalis Lanshima, has refused to resign his seat despite running for a senatorial seat in Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives.

The councilman came under scrutiny after fellow Democratic Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, called for an investigation into whether his Nigerian candidacy broke state law or affected his eligibility to serve on Louisville Metro Council.

He also registered to vote in Nigeria on July 3, 2018, according to the website of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

On Wednesday, he said he registered to vote there in person while “vacationing.”

Lanshima who nearly became the subject of a committee investigation into whether he broke state law, took aim at fellow Metro Council members and claimed to be targeted by “sore losers or sore winners.”

“There are many things for us to worry about in Louisville. … We do not have to be obsessed with me,” Lanshima told a gathering of reporters, calling the attention surrounding him a “manufactured crisis.”

The committee on Wednesday evening declined to vote on calling an investigation but members said they would request documents about his Nigerian voter registration and official candidacy papers.

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Fowler said she was worried that District 21 constituents weren’t being adequately represented, particularly as Lanshima has missed 20 meetings since mid-June.

Lanshima has made $37,409.95 so far this year for his position on Metro Council, according to a city salary database. His annual salary is $48,790.56.

He declined Wednesday to provide the number of days he was overseas since being defeated in his primary this spring but said he returned to Louisville on Tuesday night after leaving the country in August and didn’t have plans to leave the country again.

He has not attended a council meeting since Aug. 14, Democratic spokesman Tony Hyatt said .

Lanshima vehemently denied that constituents couldn’t reach him, saying that every single person who tried had been able to contact him.

Moments later, he said it had been “over a month” since he was first unable to use his iPhone because it was on “reset mode.” (He said he’d had contact via Facebook and other mediums.)

Lanshima was selected to represent the district in December after former Councilman Dan Johnson was removed from his South End seat following sexual harassment allegations.

Fowler’s order says that Lanshima has been absent from “numerous” committee and council meetings since pursuing elected office in Nigeria, which “raises the concern that he is not performing his official duties for the constituents of District 21.”

A primary question around Lanshima’s legal standing is whether he can be registered to vote in Nigeria and still be considered a “qualified voter,” according to a representative of the Jefferson County attorney’s office.

Lanshima said he was certain he had not broken any state law, despite registering to vote in Nigeria with the intention to relocate there after his Louisville Metro Council term expires.

On Wednesday evening, he added that residency was not a requirement to run for office in Nigeria. He does own a house there, he said.

Source Courier journal

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