Mild drama was witnessed on Thursday at the Lagos State House of Assembly complex as embattled former speaker Mudashiru Obasa showed up at the complex.
A retinue of stern-looking, armed security personnel escorted Obasa as he entered the sacred chambers, where he has not been seen since being removed as Lagos speaker on Monday, January 13, 2025.
In a show of solidarity, his supporters gathered at the entrance gate of the Assembly Complex, chanting and cheering on the lawmaker who represents Agege Constituency I in the 40-member House.
Recall that in January, Obasa was impeached as Lagos speaker when more than two-thirds of the house voted him out over alleged misconduct and sundry offences.
Obasa’s then deputy, Mojisola Meranda, was immediately elected the new Speaker, becoming the first female to take charge of the legislative body in the South-West state.
A day after she became the speaker, Meranda visited members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) to “brief them about what happened at the House of Assembly yesterday and to seek their blessings, which we have gotten.”
Meanwhile, hours earlier, an aide to Meranda, Victor Ganzallo, accused the police of withdrawing all the escorts attached to the speaker.
In a statement, Ganzallo said, “all the police escorts assigned to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, as well as the security personnel guarding the Assembly complex, have been withdrawn without any explanation.”
The aide queried the decision of the police, which he said posed grave dangers to the speaker and other assembly members.
“The timing of the withdrawal of security, combined with the hostile actions of the former speaker and his associates, raises the question: Is this politically motivated, or is this part of a larger strategy to destabilise the current administration?
“We demand an immediate clarification from both the police and the state government on their roles in these actions.”
The police are yet to make an official statement on the unfolding development. When contacted, the police spokesman for the state, Benjamin Hundeyin, declined an immediate comment but said the Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, would address the matter later.
