•Mudashiru Obasa
Lawmakers at the Lagos State House of Assembly may write President Bola Tinubu over the removal of Mudashiru Obasa as speaker.
Our correspondent also gathered that Obasa may return to the House and be allowed to voluntarily resign as Speaker, reports The PUNCH.
These followed a marathon meeting held by members of the Governance Advisory Council at the Governor’s Lodge in Marina, Lagos, on Monday, where the decision was said to have been taken alongside the lawmakers.
GAC members who spoke with our correspondent said the meeting continued on Tuesday, arguing for the umpteenth time that Obasa’s removal on January 13, 2025 was illegal and a disrespect to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos.
They said the lawmakers had been directed to write a letter to the party’s national leader, Tinubu, to communicate their positions.
GAC is the highest decision-making organ of the APC in the state and party members hold the majority of positions in the Lagos State Government including the state assembly.
At the GAC meeting on Monday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat were said to be in attendance as well as the leadership of the House and other lawmakers.
A GAC member, Chief Muraina Taiwo, said the council told the lawmakers the “mind of the party” but the lawmakers had made up their mind (to retain Mojisola Meranda as the Speaker of the House of Assembly).
Meranda, a former deputy speaker of the House, emerged as Speaker in a unanimous decision made by the lawmakers after Obasa’s removal.
Chief Taiwo, who had recently faulted Obasa’s removal, told our correspondent in a telephone interview yesterday that it was important for the lawmakers to allow Obasa to return to the House where he may consider resigning by himself.
He said, “I’m aware that the GAC told them the mind of the party and the honorable members said they had made up their mind and they stand by it.
They decided that they would write all their grievances and send them to Abuja (to the president).
“Let us wait and see between now and tomorrow (today) or thereafter maybe by the time they come back from Abuja, we know the way forward.”
Speaking further, he said the lawmakers could not force Obasa to resign. “My stand is that they (the lawmakers) should obey the directive of the leadership (of the party) and allow the speaker to resume work and cooperate with him. To resign, that is his (Obasa’s) own decision, not that they will force him to resign,” he stressed.
When asked what the directive of GAC really was, he added, “The directive of the leadership is that they should allow him to continue his work because the leadership has considered that if he has committed any visible offence, we would have known, and they have not reported him before. What they did is not right politically and constitutionally.”
He said it was correct for the lawmakers to inform Tinubu of their decisions, because “We believe Tinubu is our leader and will continue to be our leader forever.”
Another GAC member, who preferred to be anonymous, also confirmed that the lawmakers were to write Tinubu.
When asked if lawmakers were to apologise to the President for not carrying him along in their decision as virally speculated, the GAC member said, “Yes, yes. They did more than that. They agreed he should resign and reverse the removal, that’s all.”
Earlier yesterday, reports circulating suggested that Tinubu disapproved of the removal of Obasa and insisted on its reversal. As a result, lawmakers were directed by GAC to send two apology letters to the President.
According to the reports in the media, the first letter was to acknowledge their failure to consult party leaders before the removal and pledge to change Obasa’s removal to a voluntary resignation.
The second letter, purportedly signed by 17 out of 20 lawmakers from Lagos West, supported Meranda as Speaker despite zoning concerns and agreed she should complete her term.
Meanwhile, GAC chairman, Chief Tajudeen Olusi, when contacted by The PUNCH on Tuesday, noted that GAC would only issue an official position when the time is ripe, saying, “At the appropriate time, we shall talk.”
When asked if GAC indeed gave the directives to the lawmakers, he queried, “Have you ever seen a statement issued by the appropriate authority of GAC stating this order?”
“GAC is an organ created by our party and the government for internal assistance to governance in our state so if it is necessary for us to issue a statement, we will do that, so as long as we have not issued any statement authorised by our secretariat, forget about any such information as being official,” Olusi added.
The Lagos State House of Assembly has not responded to inquiries over the development. The House Spokesperson, Hon. Ogundipe Olukayode, has not responded to calls and text messages as of the time of filing this report last night.
