Amid political grandstanding by the former Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa that he remains the bonafide speaker of the Assembly because due process was not followed for his removal, a group operating under the aegis of Assembly of Lagos Youths has urged the
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu to beef up security in the House to avert anarchy.
The convener of the Assembly of Lagos Youths, Comrade Lasisi Robert, in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday, said armed political thugs may storm the Assembly today in a bid by the embattled former speaker to return to his seat ruthlessly.
He said, “Our attention had been drawn to the recent careless statement made by Hon Mudashiru Obasa claiming he is still the speaker of Lagos State when 32 of the 39 Honorable members of the Lagos State House of Assembly impeached him.
“The Lawmakers in the House have said Mudashiru Obasa stands impeached and is not going back. He is no longer the speaker of Lagos State. He has never represented the interests of Lagos well and has not had proper representation to show.
“In a democracy, the statement just made by Obasa is purely an invitation to anarchy. Constitutionally, there is always a speaker in the state and for Obasa to have made such a statement is a treasonable felony and an intent to raise arms against the state.
“The process of removing a Speaker of a House of Assembly in Nigeria is outlined in the Constitution. According to Section 92 of the Constitution, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the House of Assembly when the House first sits after any dissolution of the House or if he is removed from office by a resolution of the House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of the House.
“This means that to remove a Speaker, a resolution must be passed by at least two-thirds of the House members. In this instance, 32 out of the 39 removed the speaker and fulfilled the two-third majority principle, so Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa stands impeached.”
Robert added, “Flowing from the above constitutional procedure, the statement implies that we should expect armed thugs, street urchins, cultists, and area boys on Monday the 27th of January, 2025, to escort the speaker to the house.
“We are now using this medium to call on the Executive Governor of Lagos State as the Chief Security Officer of the State to beef up security around the Lagos State House of Assembly as Anarchy looms in the state. We are also calling on the office of the Attorney General of Lagos State to immediately commence prosecution against Hon Mudashiru Obasa for making such reckless statements.’’
