We Won’t Accept Tinubu’s Directive To Reinstate Obasa As Lagos Speaker, Says Lagos APC Governance Advisory Council Member
Obasa was on January 13, 2025, removed by a majority of lawmakers over alleged misconduct, abuse of office, and financial misappropriations.
Muraina Akanbi Taiwo, a member of the Governance Advisory Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, has stated that the impeached Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, will not be reinstated, despite a directive from President Bola Tinubu.
The GAC is the highest decision-making body of the Lagos APC.
The Peoples Gazette on Sunday reported that President Tinubu had instructed members of the Assembly to prepare for the reinstatement of Obasa.
Obasa was on January 13, 2025, removed by a majority of lawmakers over alleged misconduct, abuse of office, and financial misappropriations.
Obasa was subsequently replaced by former deputy speaker, Mojisola Meranda.
In a statement sent to Peoples Gazette on Wednesday, Taiwo was quoted as saying the moves to reinstate the impeached speaker would be rejected, despite their loyalty to President Tinubu.
“Loyalty to Mr President, the cause, and the leadership of the party remains paramount, but democracy must take its course,” the GAC member was quoted as saying.
“As the Qur’an states in Surah Al-Imran (3:26): ‘Say, O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and take sovereignty away from whom You will.
“You honour whom You will and humble whom You will. In Your hand all is good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.
“What will be, will be. We can only pray for Allah’s guidance and wisdom as we move forward.”
He added that the removal of Obasa was long overdue and in the state’s best interest, as assembly members have stated that his leadership style had negatively impacted their performance in various constituencies.
According to him, the leadership change in the Lagos State House of Assembly “may not have been a hasty decision but one borne out of deep frustration and necessity”.
“Having attended two meetings where members spoke openly and emotionally, I witnessed firsthand the weight of their grievances.
“They detailed the enormous challenges they faced under the former speaker—challenges that seem to have drained their motivation and hindered their performance as lawmakers,” he added.
SaharaReporters recently reported how Lagos lawmakers apologised to President Tinubu for unilaterally initiating the impeachment process against Obasa.
The apology followed a directive given by GAC leadership during one of its meetings with the Assembly members at the Lagos House, Marina on Monday night.
The meeting also had in attendance Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.
“Members of the GAC after many disagreements among themselves directed the lawmakers to write two apology letters to the President. It is obvious that the lawmakers didn’t want Obasa reinstated but it seems the President really wants him back. Also, GAC members are divided on the matter,” a source at the meeting had said.
“I want to believe that apart from the reasons the President gave, I think he took that decision to avoid the state plunging into a crisis. Also, the President directed that the former Speaker be reinstated to check the excessiveness of the lawmakers. You know they removed the lawmakers without carrying some leaders of the party along.
“So, they were told to write two apology letters to the President which they instantly wrote. The first letter was to apologise for making the wrong move of impeaching the Speaker without informing the leaders of the party. In the letter, they promised to commute the removal of Obasa to resignation.
“The second letter was written by lawmakers from Lagos West to the President. In the letter, they accepted Hon. Mojisola Meranda as the Speaker of the House and told the President they would be disregarding the zoning formula. They expressed their willingness to allow her complete her term. Out of the 20 lawmakers from Lagos West, 17 signed the letter.”
