Impeached Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Obasa storms assembly complex; security details of incumbent, Meranda withdrawn as loyalist insist she remains Speaker
Impeached Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa at 10:56 am Thursday made his way into the complex of the Lagos Assembly and was reported to have forcefully entered the Speaker’s office and later conducted plenary as Presiding Speaker.
Obasa alongside an entourage of heavily armed police officers were seen entering the premises on Thursday thus heralding a new twist to the Lagos Assembly crisis.
The lawmaker was accompanied by two of the other 39 parliamentarians in Ayinde Akinsanya who represents Mushin Constituency 01 and Noheem Adams, representing Mushin Constituency 02.
Reports have it that the doors to the Speaker’s office was forced open, paving way for Obasa’s entry. A group of the legislator’s loyalists accompanied him to the complex to take possession.
The entry also witnessed a mob at the Assembly gate chanting Obasa’s name, forcing motorists to use alternative routes as all entrances have been blocked.
The present Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, was absent from the scene due to the Assembly being on recess.
Meanwhile, prior this action, all security aides attached to Speaker Mojisola Meranda of the Lagos State House of Assembly have been withdrawn.
As of Thursday morning, security details attached to the speaker including police officers have been withdrawn.
It cannot be immediately verified who authorized the withdrawal but a source close to the Speaker confirmed that Meranda was now vulnerable.
“All the Speaker’s security aides have been withdrawn. All the security aides attached to the House of Assembly have also been withdrawn,” the source said, lamenting that the “the speaker is now vulnerable.”
The development comes amid information that Meranda may have resigned from the position as Speaker.
The move follows intervention of the heavyweights of the All Progressives Congress including Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Olusegun Osoba, who are former governors of Osun and Ogun states respectively.
The meditating panel led by the duo met last Sunday with key stakeholders at the House including members of the Governance Advisory Council at the Governor’s Lodge in Marina.
The panel, according to GAC members at the meeting, are recommending the resignation of Mudashiru Obasa and that Meranda should also step down for a new lawmaker from Lagos West to take the mantle of the House leadership.
The spokesperson for Meranda, Ganzallo Victor, confirmed the development saying “we don’t know why the authorities have done that but all the police officers and other security details attached to her have been withdrawn. She’s on her own at the moment.”
Another source in the Obasa camp also said all aides attached to Obasa have now been restored.
“They have restored all Obasa’s security aides as of this morning,” the source said.
But reacting to the development, the pro-Meranda lawmakers have rejected Mudashiru Obasa, insisting that Mojisola Meranda remains the recognised speaker.
They expressed surprise at the turn of events and called on the leadership of the Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos to intervene in the crisis.
The lawmakers made this known when speaking to journalists at the assembly complex on Thursday, February 27, 2025
A member representing the Oshodi-Isolo constituency, Stephen Ogundipe, spoke on his colleague’s behalf and stressed that the leadership needs to communicate their stance to prevent the situation from deteriorating.
“We were approached by our leaders that we should remain calm and take things easy. But we are surprised to see what is happening here today,” he said.
“We won’t take laws into our hands, just as we told the staff not to take laws into our hands. But we all belong to different constituencies, and we have our mandate. Whatever has to happen, the leadership should speak with us and not this charade we are seeing.
“We are not happy; we have been law-abiding. We have not gone out of our way against the state.
“We also want to be respected, to be given our dignity. To be shown that we are elected. I’m appealing to the leadership of our party that we cannot continue this way,” Ogundipe added.