By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has described the impeachment of Mudashiru Obasa as Lagos State Assembly Speaker as strict legislative affair devoid of politics or the state government’s interference.
Sanwo-Olu’s Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, made this claim in an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday.
Akosile stressed that his principal is a democrat who upholds the principle of separation of powers as stipulated in the Nigerian Constitution.
“It is purely a legislative matter and the Assembly handled it the best way they could. It has nothing to do with the governor,” Akosile simply said, citing separation of powers in the constitution, the Executive, Legislative, and the Judiciary.” Akosile said.
Details surrounding the Speaker’s removal remain unclear as of press time. It was, however, learnt that members of the Lagos State House of Assembly sacked Obasa over multiple allegations including misconduct, abuse, financial misappropriation, and indeed, allegations of political indiscretion.
In what appeared to be a deliberate reshuffling of some key officers of the State Assembly. the Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, was also suspended indefinitely, while the Chief Whip, Mojeed Fatai, was elected the new Deputy Speaker.
The House has not issued a statement on the development.
It has, however, been confirmed that the lawmakers removed Obasa during a sitting on Monday after 90 per cent of the House backed the motion.
The Deputy Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, was subsequently sworn in as the new and she made history as the first female Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly.
In a viral video seen by our correspondent, a lawmaker, flanked by other members of the Assembly, 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.”
On whether the state would be prosecuting Obasa based on the allegations of fraud, Sanwo-Olu’s aide, Akosile, said since it was the Assembly that accused the former Speaker, it was “still left to the lawmakers to handle such”
Recall that Obasa recently dismissed allegations that the Assembly had spent N17bn on constructing a gate as “spurious and laughable.”
A group, Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, had accused the Assembly of spending the amount on the construction of a gate and called for an investigation.
At a plenary, the former Speaker had denied the allegations, describing them as politically motivated.
“It is funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in a whole year for anyone to claim we spent N17bn on a gate? They even alleged that we spent N200m on the recently organised 22nd Thanksgiving Service, which is untrue,” he said.
