Obasa: Fighting a Lost Battle as Speaker?

Segun James writes about the move made at the weekend by impeached Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Mudashiru Obasa to reclaim the coveted number three seat in the Centre of Excellence.

The adage that those the gods want to kill, they first make mad captures the case of the immediate past Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Mudashiru Obasa. That adage aptly reflected the action of Obasa when he used the opportunity of the presentation of the state’s 2025 budget to address his supposed gubernatorial ambition ahead of the 2027 poll in the state.

Obasa in his address made it clear that he is entitled to contest for the governorship seat in the state adding that those who had held the post in the past were not better or more qualified than him. This was a direct challenge to the political godfather of the state, President Bola Tinubu, a former governor of the state.

To his enemies, Obasa has not only compared himself with Asiwaju but also said that the lord of the political manor of the state is not better than him.

Barely a few hours after the import of his statement was brought to his attention, Obasa quickly contacted President Tinubu to clarify his statement, but he met a brickwall as he couldn’t get through to the President’s private lines.

With a hint that he may be removed as Speaker on the order of the President, he was advised to travel out of the country to douse the tension generated by his statement.

It was while in the United States of America that he was jolted by the news of his impeachment. He never expected it. The situation was made worse when the new leadership of the House was received by Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.

Alarmed by the turn of events, Obasa returned to Nigeria through Abuja to see the President. He was, however, unable to see Tinubu. Barely 48 hours after returning to the country from the United States of America and being unable to meet with the President, Obasa, was left with no other choice at the weekend but to call a press conference at his official residence in Ikeja, Lagos to emphatically state that he remains the Speaker of the State House of Assembly. The battle for the soul of Lagos thus began.

Obasa insisted that his impeachment did not follow due process and that the election of Mrs Mojisola Meranda as new Speaker did not follow the law, hence his removal as Speaker is null and void.

Addressing a large gathering of supporters, Obasa said a fake mace was used to instal Meranda as Speaker and that hundreds of policemen invaded the House on the day of his removal in order to intimidate his loyalists.

He also alleged that some policemen invaded his official residence on the same day and prevented members of his family and every other person in the house from coming out. He described all the action that removed him as Speaker as illegal, vowing to challenge his removal in court.

Obasa also vowed to go back to the House and resume as Speaker. “The speakership is not Obasa’s title, it is like a general when you go to war, you may come out or you may not come back. So, I am not disturbed, perturbed or worried about the purported removal.”

He, however, stressed that things must be done properly.

According to him: “The Lagos State Commissioner of Police led police officers to invade the State Assembly on the day of the removal, while over 200 policemen also invaded my private residence in Agege.

“They also blocked the gate to my official residence, while they prevented members of my family from going out of the house.

“I am not afraid of being removed, I have been a member of the House for almost 22 years and Speaker for almost 10 years and I think I have contributed my quota. But why did they have to break the chamber and use a fake mace to carry out the removal? If they say they don’t want me again, it is fine, but let them follow due procedure. My status in the House is that I believe strongly that I remain the Speaker of the Assembly until the right procedure to remove me is followed”.

He debunked the allegation that he spent N16 billion to construct a gate at the Assembly complex, describing the allegation as ridiculous.

According to him, it is not only possible to construct any gate with N16 billion, but also impossible, even as he also debunked the allegation that he bought 40 Hilux vans for N40 billion as speaker.

He emphasised that he had not done anything wrong to warrant his removal, adding he had lived up to expectations serving as lawmaker for over two decades, and that he believed so much in the House of Assembly and would never partake in its destruction.

He appreciated members of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for their love for the party and the state.

Obasa also thanked the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu for her support, and President Bola Tinubu, who he said would always be his father.

Reacting to Obasa’s submissions, the House of Assembly asked Lagos residents to ignore the statements of the former Speaker, saying that his rantings amount to nothing.

The House in a statement issued on its behalf by Mr Ogundipe Stephen Olukayode, said “It is imperative to clarify that over 2/3 of the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly are solidly united behind the new Speaker, Rt Hon Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, therefore we stood by the decision taken on the 13th  of January where Rt Hon Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa was impeached and we shall defend our positions to the letter. As elected representative of the people of Lagos, we owe them good governance and harmonious relationship  with other arms of government. 

“The position of the House remains the same and nothing has changed. The position being canvassed by former  Speaker, Rt Hon Obasa is uncalled for and unparliamentary. The majority of members elected Rt. Hon Mudashiru  Obasa as Speaker for the 10th Assembly and we also at the said plenary took majority decision  to remove him and stand  by the new Speaker so, nothing has changed.  All members were elected from their  various constituencies across the state and we  all have the inalienable rights under the necessary statutory orders to remove the principal officers, including the Speaker. 

“I therefore appeal to the former Speaker to toe the line of peace and harmony as being followed by others, as the current intransigent posture will heat up the polity and not augur well. Any attempt to heat up the polity will be resisted by the majority of distinguished members who unanimously elected Rt Hon Meranda. Peace we want in Lagos and peace we will achieve.”

Road to Obasa’s Fall

A fundamental law of physics says nothing can go faster than light, but this law did not take into cognisance, politics – the Nigerian politics for that matter. The downfall of Obasa was so meteoric. From an all powerful Speaker to an ordinary politician.

Panic shows itself in a lot of ways – none of them really good.  When we quit being governed by what we know, and instead, by what we fear. This is what Obasa has been experiencing in the last few days, since his ouster from power as the Speaker.

If it was designed to embarrass Governor Sanwo-Olu, it was spectacularly effective and devastating. The Governor was left red faced as he felt the first challenge to his authority since he took office in 2019. The Lagos State House of Assembly in a surprise move had rejected 17 nominees that Governor  Sanwo-Olu submitted to the House of Assembly for confirmation.

Of the 39 nominees screened, only 22 scaled the hurdle while the others, mainly returning former commissioners were rejected. This had never happened in the history of Lagos especially since the All Progressives Congress (APC) controls both the executive and the legislative arms of government.

To most people, the action of the house shows that there is a political war between the governor and the Assembly. But what really led to this?

Before the face-off, there has been no love lost between the Governor and the speaker of the House, Obasa. Following the decision by Tinubu to hand over the political control of the state to Sanwo-Olu, the Governor saw it as an opportunity to exert his authority on the polity, and especially the House of Assembly and its Speaker who saw himself as the alternate governor. So obvious was the arrogance of Obasa that he never attended any function with Governor. He was always delegating someone to stand in for him.

The Governor saw his new position as political leader as an opportunity to “cut the Speaker to size.” In the run to the selection and election of the House of Assembly leadership, he propped up Hon. Abiodun Tobun to challenge Obasa for the leadership of the House. The move created so much tension that President Tinubu was forced to bring both combatants to Aso Villa and mediate peace.

Asiwaju was said to have persuaded the Governor not to humiliate the Speaker but let Obasa retain his position as Speaker even as he insisted to all who attended the meeting that the Governor remains the political leader in the state. While the President’s decision is seen as a mediation, Obasa sees it as a move to exert his pound of flesh and consolidate his hold on the House.

Immediately he was re-elected Speaker, he put his supporters in the House into leadership position even as he alienated the opposition. He also went ahead to start challenging the Governor’s leadership.

The House accused the government of being soft on every issues, and more especially on security. They ordered him to address the House more than once. A move that had never happened in the history of the state.

It was in the middle of his tension that the Governor, in order to meet with constitutional requirement of 60 days deadline to submit his cabinet list, submitted a 39-man commissioner-nominees list. Most of those whose names were submitted were returning commissioners who were mainly technocrats who were brought in during Sanwo-Olu’s first term.

This was the point where the face-off between the Legislature and the Executive became obvious. Many of these technocrats, even though they held political positions for four years, never joined the party or relate with the politicians and members of the house. What’s more scandalous, they never registered as party members nor were they registered to vote at the election. Also, when asked, they do not know which ward they come from. They were also accused to have collected over N50 million each to mobilize voters, but never did. This, the legislators lamented applied to the most high profiled members of the last cabinet who see themselves as untouchables.

Rebellion appears to be in the air in the Centre of Excellence; and it is threatening to derail the well-ordered system put in place by Tinubu. That the people and politicians think differently is a well known fact. Why they do so is another matter entirely. One possible explanation is that while politicians perfect their political moves, the people remain docile expecting miracles from nowhere.

Lagos, however, remains an exception to the rule in the political firmament of the country.

There is only one Nigerian for whom Lagosians, great and small, will turn out enmasse to cast their vote for, he is President Tinubu. This is because he controls the levers of politics in the only self reliant state in the country, Lagos. In the political firmament of the state, he is the only Iroko tree that makes a forest.

Today, Tinubu has moved up in the political ladder of the nation. Realizing this, he handed over the control of the Lagos political structure to Sanwo-Olu. He invested the Governor with the title of leader and head of the Governance Advisory Council, a committee of old but powerful political leaders in the state.

If this did not go down well with these leaders, no one can really say, but if the recent face-off with the former Speaker of the State House of Assembly is anything to go by, this is the beginning of a possible protracted battle the end of which nobody can determine.

Before now, issues such as these would have been handled by Tinubu, but with him becoming the president, and focused on governance, Sanwo-Olu is now on his own. How he handles it would determine a lot in the coming weeks and months.

The powers behind the throne are always invincible and they exert the greatest force. Following Obasa’s disrespect, his outburst at the 2025 budget presentation was the catalyst that signalled his fall.

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