The opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party, in Lagos State, have demanded a probe of the impeached Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa, by the anti-graft agencies.
They made the call on Tuesday, 24 hours after Obasa was ousted by his colleagues, citing corruption allegations amongs others.
Speaking on Tuesday, the Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode, said by now the state Assembly should have submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe the fraud allegations against the former Speaker.
Amode said, “As it is now, it should not be a word of mouth. He who alleges must prove. They should be fair and honest with themselves and Lagosians by sending a petition officially to the EFCC and put the allegations there so that the EFCC can then do a thorough job.
“If it’s just because they have some internal issues within themselves within their party, and they decide to remove him, they are within their rights as members of the state Assembly. They are within their rights to choose who leads them.
“But the allegation of false enrichment and all of the other allegations that were made, they need to send a petition to the anti-graft agency and Lagosians need to know what actually happened. That is, when and where? Within how many months or years? Is it something systemic that has been going on for some time or it’s just a one-off thing?
“The EFCC will be in a better position to look at it to look at it and arraign him quickly so he himself can also clear his name to say that ‘I have not done this?’”
Maintaining a similar position, LP Secretary, Sam Okpala, said there should be consequences.
“Speaking as a Nigerian and as a Lagosian, if there are allegations against the impeached Speaker, he should be made to face the law as long as it is not a witch-hunt, as long as it is not persecution. If there is a prima facie case against him, he should be made to face the full wrath of the law.
“Our law should not be for witch-hunt or persecution but if anybody runs foul of the law, he should face the law, that is our position.”
Also, prominent PDP national chieftain, Chief Bode George, said Obasa deserved to be impeached for disrespecting the governor’s office.
George described as “despicable and dishonourable” the treatment Obasa meted out to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu during the 2024 budget presentation.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Tuesday night, George expressed his disapproval, saying, “Immediately I heard and read about what the Speaker did—the way he treated the Executive Governor of Lagos State during the annual budget presentation—it was despicable and dishonourable.
“They are in the same party, with leaders in the party. Disrespecting him, they stood there for hours without even allowing him to present the budget. That was an infringement and a direct insult to the executive governor. Nobody will allow that,” George said.
Obasa, loyalists mum
Over 24 hours after his impeachment Obasa has kept mum.
Neither has any of his loyalists come out openly to defend him. His Chief Press Secretary, Eromosele Ebhomele, did not respond to repeated calls and text messages by our correspondent on Monday and Tuesday.
Obasa was removed from the position of Lagos Speaker on Monday by fellow lawmakers, who immediately named the Deputy Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, as the new Speaker.
He is said to be currently out of the country.
Sources in the Assembly said the ousted Speaker, who was removed in his absence by 90 per cent of the House, is on vacation in the United States.
Interactions with some of his loyalists at his Agege base by The PUNCH on Tuesday indicated that they would not sacrifice their personal political ambitions by openly speaking for the ousted Speaker.
Efforts to get comments from the chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Obasa’s Agege State Constituency 1 on Tuesday proved abortive as they declined to speak on the matter.
Some party loyalists, who spoke with our correspondent, cited their political future as reasons for their silence.
A top APC member in the constituency, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said, “This is a difficult time for us. We are very much aware of the intrigues that preceded this period but his (Obasa’s) removal came as a rude shock to us, so much that it is not convenient for us. We cannot speak out against it because of the involvement of the powers that be, especially in the Presidency. Most of us are nursing one political ambition or the other and we are not ready to sacrifice it while defending him (Obasa) at this time.”
Insiders say Obasa ran into troubled waters over his alleged disregard for Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
His fate was said to have been sealed after his case was tabled before President Bola Tinubu, who is the Lagos APC political godfather and the party’s national leader.
Our correspondent, who visited Agege on Tuesday to guauge the political atmosphere, learnt that there are two political camps in Obasa’s constituency – those loyal to him and those displeased by his long stay in the Assembly.
Analysing the situation in a chat with our correspondent, another party chieftain, who did not want his name in print, explained: “There is a crack in the party here in Agege and this has led to two different political camps in the party. Those rejoicing over his removal as Speaker are not in his political camp; they are those opposed to his long stay in the Assembly and this development, perhaps, signalled an end to that.
“But those who are in the camp loyal to him are the ones who condemned the arrest of his supporters at the Assembly complex on Monday.”
The PUNCH had reported that some youths, who besieged the Assembly complex at Alausa shortly after the lawmakers announced Obasa’s removal, were rounded up by the police and taken away in a Black Maria.
During Tuesday’s visit to Obasa’s constituency in Agege, our correspondent observed that normal activities were ongoing without disruption.
The atmosphere was also far from tense. Obasa’s campaign office on Oyewole Road was deserted and the gate was locked.
It was gathered some of his strongholds in the community, which include Capitol Road, Tabontabon and Oniwaya, became tense after the news of his removal filtered the air on Monday.
This, however, led to the deployment of security operatives to some strategic points in the areas in order to prevent the breakdown of law and order.
Meanwhile, residents, who acknowledged Obasa’s contributions to the community, felt undeterred by his removal as the Speaker of the House.
A resident, Taofik Ilesanmi, said, “We can confirm to you that he has done well for us as members of his constituency, especially on road construction, which also led to the linkage of one neighbourhood to another. Almost everywhere in Agege is tarred. But his removal from the Speakership position did not bother us. As you can see, every one is going about their normal businesses.”
Another resident, Kunle Salau, said, “Those who are talking about the matter are those who are benefitting directly from him. As for us, we have moved on.”
Arrested supporters whereabouts unknown
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Obasa’s supporters arrested at the Assembly on Monday were unknown as of Tuesday.
The supporters, numbering about 15 who stormed the complex on Monday afternoon to protest Obasa’s removal, were rounded up by security operatives and locked up in a van stationed at the gate.
The security operatives were said to have swooped in on them after they arrived at the gate of the Assembly complex to show solidarity with the impeached Speaker.
Some of them who managed to escape and were found to be loitering around the area were also picked up by the police.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Task Force, Raheem Gbadeyan, said the arrested loyalists were not in their custody.
“We were not involved in the operation. The task force van may have been deployed by the Commissioner of Police. You can reach out to Hundeyin,” Gbadeyan said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, could not be reached to confirm the custody of Obasa’s loyalists as he did not pick up the calls placed to his mobile line.
A source in the community, however, said that arrested loyalists were released on Monday night.
“They have returned to the community. They were released around 11pm on Monday.”
Assembly under heavy security
As of Tuesday, patrol vehicles and armed personnel remained stationed at the entrance of the Lagos Assembly complex.
Our correspondent, who was at the complex to see the situation of things, saw battle-ready armed security agents.
New Speaker meets GAC members
Earlier on Tuesday, the newly sworn-in Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, was at the residence of the state governor, Lagos House, Marina, to meet with members of the Governor’s Advisory Council, in what was termed by speculators as seeking endorsement.
According to Mojisola, who, briefly spoke to the press after the closed-door meeting which lasted hours, the meeting was to seek blessings of the apex decision-making body of the Lagos APC.
“(We are here) to brief them about what happened at the House of Assembly yesterday (Monday), to seek their blessings and which we have gotten,” the first female Lagos Speaker, flanked by other lawmakers, simply said and departed from the press.
Efforts to get comments from the GAC members proved abortive.
Our correspondents reports after the departure of the new Speaker from Lagos House, members of the GAC continued to hold a meeting.
