Why Obasa was impeached as Lagos Assembly speaker

The impeachment of Mudashiru Obasa as speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday did not come as a surprise to many observers, considering the controversies which had trailed him in recent years.

On Monday in plenary, the 52-year-old lawmaker was accused of gross misconduct and abuse of office. Ninety percent of the Lagos lawmakers voted to impeach him, and Obasa was subsequently replaced by his deputy, Mojisola Meranda.

Meranda, who represents Apapa Constituency 1, is also a former chief whip of the house. Mojeed Fatai was elected the new deputy speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

A source told BusinessDay that Obasa might have been impeached because of his 2027 ambition.

Political watchers say the Agege politician’s problems started when he began to build structures across 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs). The structures were given a nomenclature – the Obasa’s Support Group.

Political observers say the support group is targeted at controlling the grassroots ahead of his Lagos governorship ambition in 2027.

Observers say he took it a little far when he proposed a bill to empower the Assembly to remove the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) chairman and wanted to pressure Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to sign the bill.

It was also alleged that Obasa’s ‘disrespect’ for the governor got the attention of the Governor advisory Members (GAC) who reported him to President Bola Tinubu.

“His unfriendly attitude towards the governor is known by everyone. He was invited to a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, which marked the end of his tenure as speaker of Lagos Assembly. The rest is history,” the source told BusinessDay.

Obasa, who represents Agege Constituency 1, was first elected in 2007. He has been re-elected four times in 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023.

Read also: Lagos House of Assembly speaker, Obasa, impeached

However, in recent years, he has not enjoyed a cordial working relationship with the Lagos State Governor, Sanwo-Olu.

Another source revealed that Obasa ignored warnings from President Tinubu and the GAC to refrain from using his position to advance personal interests.

Reports indicate that the former speaker recently instructed lawmakers to purchase festive gifts for his political movement, a move viewed as a direct defiance of party directives.

This development raised concerns within party ranks, underscoring Obasa’s alleged disregard for the party’s leadership and internal rules.

President Tinubu and GAC members previously cautioned Obasa against disrespecting Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and engaging in behaviour deemed unbecoming of his position as speaker, a source revealed.

Sanwo-Olu’s second term aftermath

In 2023, after Sanwo-Olu’s assumption of office for a second term, the Lagos House of Assembly in an unprecedented development since 1999, deviated from its usual path of clearing all commissioner nominees transmitted by the executive arm of government by refusing to clear some nominees of Governor Sanwo-olu.

The Assembly and party loyalists had said the main reason some nominees were rejected was because they were not known in their constituencies and had no electoral value. But it was seen as part of the loggerhead between Obasa and the governor.

Some party members had alleged that Sanwo-olu had supported another candidate against Obasa in the race for the seat of speaker.

Furthermore, at the inauguration of the 10th Assembly, many key members of the Lagos House of Assembly did not support Obasa’s decision to vie for the speakership of the House.

Some of the legislators had accused him of alleged highhandedness, after he clashed with some key lawmakers who challenged his decisions in the 9th Assembly.

However, it took the intervention of the GAC before some key Lagos lawmakers and party chieftains could back his ambition.

Read also: Who is Mojisola Meranda? The female lawmaker who replaces Obasa as Lagos speaker

Obasa and EFCC

Similarly, Obasa’s removal comes barely a month after the Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition had filed a petition with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), accusing him of allegedly spending N17 billion to fix a gate that leads to the Assembly.

But Obasa had, on several occasions, denied the accusations, saying that they were politically motivated.

“I was accused of using N17 billion to construct a gate. How much is the House of Assembly allocation that I will now carry out for the construction of a gate at the rate of N17 billion? For the fact that you want to satisfy some people, at least they should be reasonable,” Obasa said recently.

2027 ambition

Some observers say Obasa may have been removed due to his rumoured gubernatorial ambition to succeed the incumbent governor in 2027.

Speaking recently at the 2025 budget presentation of Governor Sanwo-Olu in plenary, where the Lagos legislators passed a vote of confidence on him, Obasa denied nursing any gubernatorial ambition.

He said his major concern has been to strengthen the APC in the state.

“I have made it a personal task to mobilise people on the platform of Mandate, which has been misconstrued by some political detractors as being a selfish aspiration on the ground for me to become governor of the state,” Obasa had stated.

However, it appears only a few people believed him.

Dayo Kayode, public affairs commentator, said Obasa’s removal could be part of power play within the APC in Lagos State and wondered why he was removed now, when the same party had been protecting him from these accusations before.

“It is part of the shenanigan for 2027. It is a power play. We have been hearing a rumour that the man has governorship ambition and it is unsettling some people because they have who they want.

“He had issues with the governor and I thought they had settled it with the president. I thought the House had investigated him and cleared him,” he said.