Lagos Assembly crisis: Obasa, Meranda claim speakership

Ousted leader resumes, presides over ‘plenary’ with 4 members 36 legislators insist removed speaker gone Impasse betrayal of democracy, says Atiku   From Abdullateef Aliyu, Peter Moses & Eugene Agha, Lagos   The crisis rocking the Lagos State House of Assembly took a new dimension yesterday as the ousted Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, made a dramatic […]

• Ousted leader resumes, presides over ‘plenary’ with 4 members

• 36 legislators insist removed speaker gone

• Impasse betrayal of democracy, says Atiku

 

From Abdullateef Aliyu, Peter Moses & Eugene Agha, Lagos

 

The crisis rocking the Lagos State House of Assembly took a new dimension yesterday as the ousted Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, made a dramatic return and presided over a “plenary session” with only four lawmakers in attendance.

But the remaining 36 lawmakers insisted that Obasa is gone, saying their loyalty remain with Mojisola Meranda.

This development came despite the suit filed by Obasa against his removal on January 13.

Obasa, a sixth-time lawmaker representing Agege constituency I, was removed for alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office on January 13, 2025 while Meranda, representing Apapa I, was elected as speaker, a development that has since polarised the assembly and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State; the country home of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Meranda has been under pressure to vacate the office following President Tinubu’s alleged displeasure with the removal of Obasa.

A flurry of activities over the festering crisis in the 40-member legislative house culminated in the return of Obasa amidst opposition by majority of the lawmakers.

News broke early Thursday that Meranda’s security details had been withdrawn while those of Obasa were restored paving the way for his return. However, before the end of yesterday, the security aides of Meranda were restored.

Moments after, Obasa stormed the assembly with heavy security, with hundreds of his supporters stationed around the premises of the House singing and dancing to celebrate the return of their principal.

He then presided over plenary with only four lawmakers after security operatives reportedly forced open the chamber doors to allow Obasa and his supporters access.

He was accompanied by Hon. Nuraini Akinsanya (Mushin 1), Hon. Kazeem Olayinka Eso (Mushin 11), Hon. Jubreel Kareem (Agege II) and Hon. Noheem Adams (Eti-Osa I).

 

‘I’m back’

Addressing journalists at the assembly complex on Thursday afternoon, Obasa insisted that his removal did not follow due process and, therefore, was not valid.

“I’ve never been removed. Impeachment or removal is democratic and constitutional, but in doing that, you must follow due process. I am not against that. If I do that, then I am not democratic,” Obasa said.

Also speaking in an interview with TVC, Obasa neither denied nor confirmed if he presided over a plenary session with four lawmakers.

He said no one can be forced to attend plenary. “You can’t force people to the plenary. If they say four, where are they?

“The most important thing is that we held a plenary and we adjourned sine die. If you want to know the number of people in attendance, definitely we will make it public in a few hours so you would see,” he said.

He also insisted that there was no crisis in Lagos Assembly, describing it as a minor misunderstanding.

He said, “There is no crisis in the House of Assembly. You people should be careful. Minor misunderstanding is allowed. These are my brothers and sisters and colleagues.

“APC is one family in Lagos under the same roof. We are together. We have always been like that. Our party is not divided under the Chairman, Cornelius and our leaders in GAC.”

 

How the drama unfolded

Daily Trust gathered that Obasa’s closeness with the president paved the way for his return to the House of Assembly less than two months after his impeachment.

The intervention of the APC leaders including former National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, former Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Muiz Banire and members of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) and some of the lawmakers facilitated his return even though Meranda initially resisted pressure to resign, Daily Trust gathered.

The APC leaders had met over the weekend to find a win-win solution to the crisis rocking the state assembly which has disrupted the business of the House.

It was at the meeting that the fate of Meranda was sealed and she was impressed upon to vacate her seat, it was further gathered.

“In truth, what the leaders agreed was that Obasa’s removal was illegal and the lawmakers were directed at the meeting to go and return him,” sources familiar with the matter said.

A source with sufficient knowledge of the power game in the state assembly said, “In arriving at a decision to support the return of Obasa, the APC leaders considered his political clout and grassroots popularity. He is somebody with sufficient street credibility, holding his Agege constituency firmly and no doubt he is an asset that the party cannot just allow to be rubbished like that.”

Premium Times also yesterday claimed that is has confirmed that the Nigerian government facilitated Obasa’s return to office as Speaker of the Lagos Assembly.

It said a top security source confided that “Obasa was not properly impeached as Speaker, so his removal is illegal.

“The government cannot support illegality,” it quoted the source as saying.

The source said the members levelled criminal allegations against Obasa as the grounds for his impeachment but they did not allow him to defend himself.

 

‘Meranda remains Speaker’

Daily Trust reports that there are 40 members in the state assembly, but the majority refused to participate in the session on Thursday, despite being present at the assembly complex. They refuted Obasa’s claim that he is the speaker.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, Steven Ogundipe, stated that they would ensure that Obasa does not return.

“He was not elected as Speaker by his constituency. We endured his master-slave leadership for nearly a decade. Now, we’ve had enough, and we’re not backing down,” he stated.

He said that the lawmakers had approached the APC leaders to intimate them of what is happening, adding, “We are shocked with what is happening today. We are expecting them to come and tell us where we went wrong. We won’t take laws into our hands and we have told the staff not to take laws into their hands.”

 

Obasa’s suit

Daily Trust reports that Obasa had approached the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja to overturn the decision, arguing that his removal was unconstitutional and executed while the Assembly was in recess.

In an urgent suit filed on February 12, 2025, through his lawyer, Chief Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), Obasa is calling for a swift ruling, asking the court to fast-track proceedings and compel the defendants to respond within seven days.

He also seeks an order limiting his own response time to three days, insisting that the case is of critical public interest.

According to Obasa, his removal on January 13, 2025, by 36 lawmakers violated the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Assembly’s own Standing Orders.

He argued that no sitting should have taken place without the Speaker’s formal convening of the House, making the process unlawful.

 

Meranda’s security details restored

The Lagos State Police Command, last night, said it had restored the security details of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda.

Speaking at a press briefing,  Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, said four security personnel attached to the Speaker who were earlier withdrawn had been restored.

He said the withdrawal of the security details 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 currently being conducted in other states’ police commands and not Lagos alone.

 

Crisis a betrayal of democracy – Atiku

In a statement last night, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar described the development in the Lagos Assembly as betrayal of democracy.

“The unfolding events in the Lagos State House of Assembly over the past few weeks have exposed the dangerous erosion of democratic principles in Nigeria’s commercial capital.

“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 provided troubling validation of these claims.

“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. Instead, what we are witnessing is a calculated attempt to subvert the will of the legislature through backdoor tactics and the deployment of state-backed security forces to strong-arm elected representatives,” the statement signed by Atiku’s spokesman, Paul Ibe, said.