Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been urged by chieftain Babatunde Bank-Anthony to speak out over the leadership dispute in the state’s House of Assembly.
He made these remarks hours after the leadership dispute in the Lagos State House of Assembly escalated.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Bank-Anthony stressed the need for the Lagos State governor to address the situation.
“I expect the governor as well to say something to this. He is the number one man in Lagos State. He cannot ignore what happened yesterday because that is the parliament that he reports to; that is the parliament that makes the law for the state he is governing,” Bank-Anthony said.
“The governor should speak up about this issue to the right quarters,” he argued.
A few days ago, Assembly members were unable to enter the chambers because security personnel had closed the premises.
Later on, they were able to enter the chambers where Speaker Mojisola Meranda presided over the plenary session in Lagos’ Alausa.
The APC chieftain thinks the Nigerian leader should proceed cautiously, despite the fact that many have urged President Bola Tinubu to enter the leadership battle that is ripping the Assembly apart.
Bank-Anthony said since political hierarchies exist in governance, Tinubu should be cautious in making a statement about the crisis to avoid being seen as taking sides.
“26 years of democracy in Lagos, Nigeria, right? Do you want to keep sucking your mothers breast at this age? Let us leave this man alone, he has a bigger headache,” the APC chieftain said, doubling down on the need for Tinubu to focus on addressing pressing national issues.
The Lagos Assembly’s crisis started when lawmakers ousted Mudashiru Obasa as speaker due to accusations of fraud. They chose Meranda to succeed the veteran lawmaker who serves the state’s Agege I constituency.
Bank-Anthony has criticized Obasa’s decision to refuse his dismissal and is now contesting the ruling in court.
“If Obasa cannot come to the House as a member, let him resign after 20 years in the Assembly. Let him give somebody else a chance,” he said
Obasa, from Agege Constituency I, was first elected into the House in 2007. He started serving as a speaker in June 2015.
