Obasa’s hopes dashed as Tinubu endorses Meranda as Lagos Speaker

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the removal of impeached former Speaker, Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa as Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly.

The removal of Obasa was finally sealed in Abuja on Wednesday night when President Bola Tinubu met with GAC Leaders, Lagos APC leaders, Rt Hon Meranda Mojisola Lasbat and some of the principal officers of the Assembly.

It would be recalled that it was earlier reported on Monday that Obasa was holed up in Abuja in a frantic and desperate move to see the President. An attempt by the embattled former Speaker to see the President in the United Arab Emirates last week also failed.

He was said to have told some close aides of the President that his life and that of his family members were under threat in Lagos, he claimed that the Police laid a siege to his house.

Last week, 32 of the 40-member assembly impeached Obasa as Speaker citing sundry alleged infractions including corruption and alleged highhandedness.

It was gathered that President Tinubu met the new leadership of the House and members of the party’s Governance Advisory Council (GAC) at a closed-doors meeting in Abuja on Wednesday evening.

READ ALSO: Mudashiru Obasa’s Impeachment: A Scandal of Corruption, Power Struggles, and Political Fallout

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat and the embattled former Speaker Obasa were not at the meeting.

The New Speaker, Rt (Hon) Mojisola Lasbat Meranda and some leaders of the House were, however, in attendance.

At the meeting, President Tinubu was said to have complained about the clandestine manner the lawmakers carried out the impeachment, saying it amounted to a coup.

However, it was gathered that after the GAC leaders present pleaded with him to accept the decision, especially given Obasa’s alleged excesses, the President was said to have reluctantly accepted the impeachment.

Speaker Meranda thereafter pledged to work with all leaders of the state and other arms of government to ensure a seamless delivery of dividends of democracy to Lagosians with a core focus on transparency, inclusion and good governance.