A report indicates that the Federal Government is facilitating Mudashiru Obasa’s return to the office of Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday.
Obasa was removed by members of the Assembly while he was on holiday in the United States. The members cited alleged high-handedness and financial misappropriation for his removal and promptly elected Mojisola Meranda as their new Speaker.
However, Obasa rejected his removal, insisting that the lawmakers failed to follow due process.
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On Thursday, Obasa led a crowd of his supporters to take over the assembly complex, where he announced that he had reclaimed his seat. He later presided over a plenary attended by four other members.
A top security official who spoke under the condition of anonymity informed Premium Times that the federal government had authorised the development.
The source said, “Obasa was not properly impeached as Speaker, so his removal is illegal, The government cannot support illegality.”
He said the members levelled criminal allegations against Obasa as the grounds for his impeachment but they did not allow him to defend himself.
Reminded that Obasa had taken his case to court and that there had been no judicial pronouncement on the matter, the official said the government did not have to wait for the court to tell it to act on what it believes was a violation of the law.
“Remember too that the House was not properly convened for the session where it purportedly impeached the Speaker. The House was on Recess, and only the legitimate Speaker could reconvene it,” the source argued.
President Bola Tinubu has been heavily speculated to have been angered by Obasa’s impeachment, as the lawmakers reportedly did not consult party leaders in the state before taking the step.
The influential Governor’s Advisory Council of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state reportedly intervened and tried to persuade Tinubu to accept the change as the will of most lawmakers, but the president reportedly denied audience to a delegation the group sent to him in Abuja.