President Bola Tinubu‘s forceful intervention in the political crisis that rocked the Lagos State House of Assembly has failed to yield the much needed results one month after, credible sources informed TheScrutinyNG on Friday.
It will be recalled that the speaker of the house, Mudashiru Obasa was impeached by 36 of his colleagues on January 13 while he was on holiday in the United States. He was replaced by his deputy, Mojisola Meranda.
Upon his return to the country, Obasa declared his removal as illegal and insisted that he remained the speaker. He argued that his colleagues failed to followed laid down rules and vowed to challenge it in court.
Obasa’s removal greatly piqued President Bola Tinubu, who described the action of the lawmakers as a ‘coup’ and affront on his leadership as apex leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He insisted on Meranda’s resignation and Obasa’s return as Speaker but the lawmakers refused to budge. Some were even detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) for their roles in the impeachment process.
After much back and forth and the insistence of the lawmakers that Obasa cannot return as Speaker, a panel, led by former Osun State Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, and former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba, along with the leadership of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), advised that Meranda should step down as Speaker.
It also recommended Obasa’s reinstatement as Speaker with the understanding that he would also resign shortly after, making way for a new Speaker from Lagos West to balance the state’s political structure as the state governor is from is Lagos Central while the deputy governor is from Lagos East senatorial district.
Based on the panel recommendation, Meranda resigned as Speaker and reverted to her former role as Deputy Speaker while Obasa was reinstated as Speaker on March 3.
However, on March 12, President Tinubu met with Obasa and the lawmakers in Aso Villa, he overruled the recommendation of the panel that Obasa should resign and also admonished the lawmakers to cooperate with his leadership as the Speaker. He also cautioned them against destabilising the peace of his home base, Lagos.
The president’s action was said to have infuriated Akande, Osoba and members of the GAC in Lagos but they decided not to make a fuss about it out of respect for his office as president and leader of the party.
Findings by our correspondent revealed that one month after the president’s directive, there is still an acrimonious relationship between Obasa and the lawmakers as they are yet to resume plenary.
Since his return as Speaker, Obasa and the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu have not met to discuss any state function. The Obasa camp believed that the governor played a major role in his removal as Speaker by bankrolling the lawmakers, a claimed the governor’s camp has denied.
Aside the lawmakers, our correspondent gathered that some staff of the Assembly who were seen jubilating on television when Obasa was removed have silently resigned, fearing victimisation from the Speaker.
Sources in the assembly said the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Eromosele Ebhomele resigned his position shortly after Obasa was returned as Speaker.
Ebhomele could not be reached for comment by our correspondent while the speaker has not announced the appointment of a new media aide.
One of the lawmakers who spoke with our correspondent said despite pressures from APC leaders that Obasa should withdraw the court case he instituted against the lawmakers, he refused and continued with the litigation in court.
“We stood our ground that we’ve had enough of him and he will not return as Speaker. The president and the party leaders prevailed on us and we listened. They also prevailed on him (Obasa) to withdraw the court case he instituted against us, but he refused. It is like he already had a foreknowledge that the ruling will be in his favour” he said.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday April 16, Justice Yetunde Pinheiro of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja awarded N500,000 in damages to Obasa, declaring his removal as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly unlawful and unconstitutional.
According to the lawmaker, shortly after the ruling, Obasa sent messages to the platform they all belonged to, saying he has been vindicated when he said his removal did not follow the rule of law.
“He was even expecting us to apologise to him but we told him in clear terms that we are not buying that and if we have our way, we will remove him again. If not for the president and the First Lady who insisted that it is Obasa or nothing, he cannot preside over us again” .
” He is also insisting that Hon. Temitope Adewale (Jah) should step down as the majority leader of the House but that one has told him in clear terms that he will not resign as long as Obasa too has failed to honour the agreement we had that he will resign as Speaker” the visibly angry lawmaker said.
Also speaking with our correspondent, a chieftain of the APC from Lagos Island, Chief Lekan Apatira said there can never be peace in the Assembly again as long as Obasa remains the speaker. He said based on what was witnessed on the day Meranda stepped down, it was evident the lawmakers were bullied into reinstating him.
“Of course, there was no reconciliation in the Lagos State House of Assembly. What the president did was to bully some of the actors in the matter. He didn’t reconcile anybody. So, there is no way there will be peace in the state. As it stands, there will never be peace in the assembly, not only among the lawmakers but even among the administrative staff who are working in the assembly. Everybody wanted Obasa and you could see the jubilation among the workers when Meranda was elected the speaker”.
“What Obasa is doing now is to silently victimise all those who rejoiced when he was impeached and some of the workers are already resigning on their own, knowing the kind of man he is. I know a worker there who told me he has resigned immediately Obasa was restoted. So, there will never be peace in the assembly as an institution. There will never be a cordial relationship among the lawmakers”.
“Also, there will never be peace in Lagos APC because that development divided the party, especially the GAC members. The GAC felt humiliated. They traveled to Abuja to see the president but he refused to grant them audience”.
“Even Papa Osoba and Bisi Akande are unhappy. They had a clear understanding with the president on Obasa that he will be restored as Speaker but he will resign so that it will not be on record that he was impeached but the president reneged on the agreement they had and said Obasa should continue. That is very sad. The Lagos Assembly prides itself as “a House above the common standards of excellence” but it is the direct opposite due to undue interventions” he said.
