The removed Speaker returned to the state on Saturday, January 25, 2025, and immediately declared his removal as “illegal,” faulting the process
Lagos Assembly Speaker: Insiders Disclose Tinubu’s Stand As Obasa Fights To Reclaim Position
Sources have disclosed President Bola Tinubu’s stance as Mudashiru Obasa seeks to reclaim his position as the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
“Contrary to assertions here and there, what President Bola Tinubu told all stakeholders in December 2024 was that political discord should be managed in such a way that it does not heat up the polity. That was what he told them, and that is what subsists since he has not made any other declaration,” according to insiders.
The stakeholders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) met with President Tinubu during his yuletide break in Lagos State and tabled different grievances before him, as the leader of the party, for arbitration, including alleged trespasses of then-Speaker Obasa.
Among other things, Obasa was accused of overreaching to the point of outright disrespect toward Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other senior politicians outside government.
The President reportedly waded in and directed Obasa to make amends while strongly urging all stakeholders to manage their differences in a manner that does not heat up the polity.
“Obviously, Obasa was lulled into a false sense of security with the President’s mediation, expecting his adversaries to let him be. He let down his defenses by traveling out of the country in January, leaving himself wide open for the sucker punch that was his removal from office,” according to insiders.
Obasa was removed as Speaker—without any dissenting votes—on January 13, 2025. He was abroad at the time.
The removed Speaker returned to the state on Saturday, January 25, 2025, and immediately declared his removal as “illegal,” faulting the process.
However, Obasa’s colleagues and those familiar with the proceedings of the Lagos Assembly and the rules guiding it insist he stands removed.
Those in the know disclosed that Obasa is trying to leverage Tinubu’s December 2024 directive that situations should be managed without heating up the polity to stage a comeback, with behind-the-scenes campaigns that the President’s warning was ignored.
However, observers point out that he is doing what he accuses others of , heating up the polity, with his trying to stage a comeback antics.
“But the reality is that the House, in removing Obasa, followed the rules. He was simply caught flat-footed. He was removed by virtually the entirety of the House, which is an independent body, although you cannot totally rule out external influences in his ouster—just like they helped him remain Speaker since 2015,” sources say.
Obasa was replaced by the first female Speaker of the Lagos Assembly, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda.
Obasa has been a legislator in the Lagos State House of Assembly since 2007. Read More
