The ongoing leadership crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly took a dramatic turn yesterday as the impeached Speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, stormed the premises of the Lagos State House of Assembly, located in the Alausa area of the state, with heavy security on Thursday and went straight to occupy the Speaker’s office.
The crisis began 45 days ago, on 13th January 2025, when about 36 lawmakers removed Obasa as Speaker and replaced him with Meranda, the then-deputy speaker.
LEADERSHIP Friday observed that Obasa, dressed in a white Yoruba attire matched with his usual cap, arrived at the Assembly premises with many policemen to prevent anyone from stopping him and walked straight to his former office to resume activities.
The manner in which the former speaker staged his comeback, while the other lawmakers had earlier adjourned sitting indefinitely, left the few Assembly workers confused.
He was later joined in the Assembly complex by his teeming political supporters, who sang songs in solidarity with him.
Addressing journalists after entering the office of the Speaker and walking around the Assembly premises, Obasa stated that he had nothing against his fellow lawmakers and that he was impeached, not removed, as stipulated in the Constitution.
Obasa also denied knowledge of a suit he had filed at the Lagos State High Court challenging his removal from office on the thirteenth of last month.
It was also gathered that the police had withdrawn all escorts guarding the current Speaker of the Lagos State Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, and those safeguarding the Assembly.
LEADERSHIP Friday reliably gathered that the withdrawal of the security personnel was with immediate effect, while that of the impeached speaker was restored, a development that emboldened him to move into the Assembly complex.
As the bewildered Lagos Assembly staff tried to understand the plot of the political drama, Obasa proceeded to preside over a controversial plenary session with only four lawmakers in attendance.
The session occurred after security personnel forcibly opened the chamber doors, allowing Obasa and his supporters to enter.
However, what was discussed during the session was unknown to jourmalists.
Despite the move, over 26 other legislators refused to join the plenary, supporting the newly recognised Speaker, Mojisola Meranda.
The session, which commenced at 3pm, was ongoing by 3:30pm, with lawmakers and assembly staff livid at the occurrence.
Meanwhile, the opposing 36 lawmakers loyal to the Speaker of the Lagos State Assembly, Mrs. Mojisola Meranda, rejected the return of Obasa as Speaker, saying their decision stands.
Speaking with newsmen on the Assembly premises in Alausa, Ikeja, the lawmakers, led by the House Committee chairman on Information, Strategy, and Security, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe, described the former Speaker’s entry into the premises with armed men as an embarrassment to the House.
Ogundipe said the lawmakers who removed Obasa were more than the two-thirds required by the Constitution and that the leadership of their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), should be bold enough to address the issue.
As the unending leadership crisis rocking the Lagos House of Assembly lingers, lawmakers have faulted the perpetual silence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, including President Bola Tinubu and the highest decision-making organ of the Lagos APC Chapter, the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), saying their actions have continued to encourage illegality within the Assembly.
They said that rather than invite them to address whatever grievances exist within the House and state their position publicly, the leaders have kept them in the dark. They speak through the media without categorically identifying themselves and use other unapproved methods of communication that are not specified for crisis management within the APC, the lawmakers said.
It was learned that security escorts attached to the former speaker prevented lawmakers from accessing their offices and aided Obasa in forcefully gaining access to his Speaker’s office, where he sat for minutes before leaving.
It was gathered that Obasa instructed the armed mobile policemen not to allow anyone outside their offices, particularly the lawmakers, to access the building.
Observers who felt the speakership crisis rocking the Lagos State House of Assembly might be resolved soon, following the intervention of heavyweights in the All Progressives Congress, were disappointed with the current development.
It will be recalled that the APC bigwigs, notably former governors of Osun, Ogun, and Lagos states, Chief Bisi Akande, Segun Osoba, and Akinwunmi Ambode, respectively, intervened in the crisis recently.
It was gathered that President Bola Tinubu directed a high-powered APC delegation to resolve the political tension at the Lagos Assembly following the inability of the Governance Advisory Council to find a solution.
It’s A Betrayal Of Democracy – Atiku
In his reaction, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar described the events in the Lagos State House of Assembly as a betrayal of democracy.
According to Atiku, the unfolding events in the Lagos State House of Assembly have exposed the dangerous erosion of democratic principles in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Atiku said just days after Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, a founding leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Kaduna State, publicly accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of engaging in selective machine politics, the crisis in the Lagos legislature has troublingly validated these claims.
In a statement issued by Paul Ibe, for the Atiku Media Office, the former vice president said the unceremonious removal of former Speaker Mudashiru Obasa by an overwhelming majority of Assembly members and the historic appointment of Hon. Mojisola Lasbat Meranda as the first female Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly should have marked a step forward for democracy.
We Have Restored Meranda’s Security, Say Police
The Lagos State Police Command said it had restored the security detail of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Mojisola Meranda.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, who disclosed this at a press conference, said four security personnel attached to the Speaker, who were earlier withdrawn, had since been restored.
According to the CP, the withdrawal of the security operatives attached to the Speaker and other Very Important Personalities (VIPs) in the state was in line with an ongoing audit of police personnel and firearms.
He disclosed that the same audit is being conducted in other states’ police commands, not Lagos alone..
The security escorts attached to the Speaker’s office and residence were withdrawn on Thursday morning.
