Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have impeached their Speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, over multiple allegations of fraud, while the Clerk of the House, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko, was also suspended indefinitely.
While the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Mojisola Meranda, has been sworn in as the new Speaker, the Chief Whip, Mr Mojeed Fatai, was elected the new Deputy Speaker.
The dramatic changes in the House took place during Monday’s plenary but the circumstances still remained hazy as at press time.
A lawmaker who spoke to the Punch on the development, said: “It is only death that is constant, so change is inevitable. Members of the parliament today have decided to change the leadership of the House. The Constitution makes it clear that the House has the power to regulate its proceedings.
“The members of the House felt we had had enough of the leadership of Mudashiru Obasa. We unanimously agreed that Hon. Mojisola Meranda would become the new Speaker and Hon. Fatai Adebola would be the Deputy Speaker. It was a resolution concurred by all members of the parliament. As we speak, all principal positions and standing committees of the House have been dissolved.
“The House has resolved to work together to move the parliament to the next level. We cannot sit back and watch the parliament fall into ruin. We owe our constituencies and Lagos State the duty of restoring the sanity and integrity of this House. That is why we have taken this action—to save our image and our state.”
But Obasa, a sixth-term lawmaker representing Agege Constituency I under the All Progressives Congress, APC, had, in the recent past, rubbished allegations of misappropriation and spending a staggering ₦17 billion to construct a gate as “spurious and laughable.”
But an integrity group called the Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition had consistently insisted that the Assembly, under Obasa’s watch, reportedly spent the amount on the gate, and called for probe.
However, at Monday’s plenary, the impeached Speaker denied all allegations, brushing them aside as political witch-hunt.
“It is funny,” he said. “How much is the allocation of the Assembly in a whole year for anyone to claim we spent ₦17 billion on a gate? They even alleged that we spent ₦200 million on the recently organised 22nd Thanksgiving service, which is untrue.
“We are aware that as elections in 2027 approach, such baseless claims will arise. It seems some people are scared, and I don’t know why. This House has not embarked on any such project. We are not reckless. Our Thanksgiving was held last Friday, attended by dignitaries from across the state.”
