It was a day full of political drama in Lagos State this Thursday: Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, had her official security aides withdrawn abruptly; and then deposed Speaker, Mudasiru Obasa, bounced back with a retinue of official security operatives and had a sitting with four members.
“I’ve resumed, and I remain the Speaker of the Assembly…I’ve never been removed. Impeachment or removal is democratic and constitutional but in doing that, you must follow the due process. I am not against that. If I do that, then I am not democratic.”
But 36 lother awmakers met on the sprawling garden of the Assembly building and said they rejected his return as speaker in “totality”.
Obasa, who was removed by his colleagues weeks ago, stormed the Assembly surrounded by security personnel.
The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent observed that Obasa arrived at the Lagos Assembly at exactly 12:05 p.m., accompanied by two lawmakers loyal to him.
He went straight into the Speaker’s office while other lawmakers, loyal to Mojisola Meranda, watched the unfolding drama from the sitting area of the garden, while others filmed.
NAN recalls that protesters had stormed the Lagos Assembly on Thursday to demonstrate against the withdrawal of Meranda’s security details.
Earlier, all police escorts assigned to the Speaker, as well as security personnel guarding the Assembly complex, were withdrawn without explanation.
This sudden action left the Speaker and the entire legislative house dangerously exposed, raising serious concerns about the motives behind it.
The crisis began on Jan. 13 after Obasa was removed over alleged financial impropriety and gross misconduct.
He was immediately replaced by his deputy, Meranda, while Fatai Mojeed assumed the role of Deputy Speaker.
On Jan. 14, Obasa approached the Lagos High Court to challenge his removal by his colleagues.
As the drama played out, thirty-six members of the Assembly backing Meranda rejected Obasa as their Speaker.
They maintained that their lawmakers convened at the Assembly garden, maintaining their stance February 17 vote of confidence in Meranda.
Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Strategy, and Security, Stephen Ogundipe, stated:: “This is Lagos, the State House of Assembly. We’re shocked to see what’s happening here today.
“We expect our leaders, who earlier told us to remain calm, to come and address us and tell us where we went wrong or what really went wrong.
“We won’t take laws into our hands, but we belong to different constituencies and we have our mandates.
“Whatever is going to happen, the leadership should speak with us and not this charade we’re witnessing.
“We are humiliated by this action. I was stopped at the gate from entering the assembly chamber. This is an embarrassment, and it must stop.
“We are not against the leadership’s decisions, but they should call us and tell us instead of hearing rumours. They’re our leaders, we’ll still stand and obey their decisions.
“We reject Obasa in totality,” he declared, as his colleagues reechoes in unison, “We reject Obasa in totality.”
● Additional report by NAN.
