Obasa: What does the constitution say on removal of a speaker?

The crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly took a new dimension during the weekend after Mudashiru Obasa, the removed speaker, rejected his colleagues’ move to oust him from the top seat, saying action didn’t follow due process.

Obasa, who was away in the United States, was removed unanimously by his co-legislators on January 13. His deputy, Mojisola Meranda, was immediately sworn in as the speaker of the house.

Upon his return to the country during the weekend, the Agege titan was welcomed by a crowd of supporters at his residence in Ikeja.

Addressing the crowd, Obasa said he remained the speaker of the assembly because his removal didn’t follow due process.

“I believe strongly I am still the speaker until the right thing has been done. If you want to remove me, remove me the proper way and I will not contest it,” the Agege lawmaker removed for gross misconduct and abuse of office said.

What does the constitution say on the removal of a speaker?

Section 92 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, created the offices of the “Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of a House of Assembly who shall be elected by the members of the House from among themselves.”

Section 92 (2)c states that the speaker or the deputy shall vacate his seat “if he is removed from office by a resolution of the House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two-third majority of the members of the House.”

Read also: What next for Obasa after his bitter end as Lagos speaker?

Is there a need for the speaker or deputy speaker to be in the house before the removal?

A major concern to Obasa is the fact that the removal was done in his absence. “If you want to do anything, do it well. They did the removal all because I was out of the country. Lagos is a special place; we cannot denigrate the state.

“When former speaker, Rt. Hon Jokotola Pelumi, was removed, he was in the assembly, and we did not invite policemen. When my sister, former deputy speaker of the House, Hon. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, was removed, we did not invite the police,” the embattled lawmaker said.

However, the constitution didn’t state that the speaker or the deputy speaker must be in the assembly before removal can happen. It only stated that a two-third majority of the members of the house.

Obasa’s removal sealed under the law – lawyer

Liborous Oshoma, a lawyer and political analyst, said the removal of Obasa as speaker is sealed under the law.

According to Oshoma, the Lagos State lawmakers followed every necessary step provided by the Constitution in the removal of the former Speaker.

“By reason of Section 92 Subsection 2 Paragraph C, if they deem fit by resolution of the House, supported by two-third members to remove the said Speaker, they don’t have to give anybody any reason,” Oshoma said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

“You must not be present to be removed; you can be there; you might not be there. If you look at all the gamut of the law, there is nowhere that states that there must be a reason to remove a speaker; I have not heard any, and the former speaker also didn’t cite any constitutional provision. So, as it stands today, legally speaking, the former speaker ceases to hold office as the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.”

Obasa should be suspended for impersonation – Ex-lawmaker

Olumuyiwa Jimoh, a former deputy majority leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, has called for the suspension of Obasa from the assembly for parading himself as the speaker after his removal.

The ex-lawmaker described Obasa’s action as an act of impersonation. “Obasa claims that he is still the speaker, which I think he knows that the implication is automatic suspension. I feel he should be suspended for that. It is an impersonation,” Jimoh said during an interview on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television, on Monday.

“How can he be the bonafide speaker of the house? It is going to lead to his suspension; he knows its implication. He has been in the house for almost two decades. If I were to be in the house, I am going to move a motion for his suspension.”

Jimoh added that “Obasa doesn’t need to be in the House to be impeached. It is stipulated in the constitution: section 92 sub-section 2 states it clearly,” he said.