“After the charades in Lagos Assembly”, Tinubu meets Obasa, other lawmakers in Abuja
B OUR REPORTERS
Weeks after allegedly operating through proxy over the crisis of Lagos State House of Assembly linked with him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday March 12, 2025, met with the man at the centre of the crisis, Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa and his other colleagues in the State House Abuja.
The DEFENDER reports that the meeting essentially had in attendance the indigenous Speaker and Lagos princess, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, who was allegedly forced to resign for Obasa’s reinstatement on a plan that he was going to be given a soft-landing to return and resign for a new speaker to emerge.
But the moment Obasa re-emerged, a different tune was sung courtesy the controlling power in Abuja, it was claimed, meaning that the 36 lawmakers who removed him and passed a vote of confidence on Meranda as their speaker had been “scammed” politically.
At the Aso Rock on Wednesday, the lawmakers arrived in two white buses with Deputy Speaker Meranda while the Speaker Obasa arrived separately some minutes later.
The meeting, which was coming after the leadership crisis in the Assembly, held behind closed doors with Tinubu presiding.
After the meeting, lawmakers were seen singing joyfully “On your mandate we shall stand”— and hailing the president as he walked off to his office.
According to one of those who attended the meeting, “everything has been resolved”.
An official statement has not been released yet.
The leadership crisis in the Assembly took a different dimension on January 13, 2025, when Obasa was removed as Lagos speaker by more than two-thirds of the 40-member house, who voted him out over alleged misconduct and sundry offenses.
Obasa’s then-deputy, Meranda, was immediately elected the new Speaker, becoming the first female to take charge of the legislative body in the South-West state.
Obasa vehemently rejected his removal as speaker, claiming that it took place in his absence — when he was out of Nigeria.
However, 36 lawmakers loyal to Meranda insisted that Obasa’s removal was final and that Meranda remained the speaker of the House.
After weeks of leadership tussle, Obasa who represents Agege Constituency I, Mudashiru Obasa, was on March 3 re-elected as the Speaker of the 40-member Assembly.
His re-election took place after the resignation of Mojisola Meranda who stepped down as the Speaker of the House.
Meranda, who represents Apapa Constituency I, announced her resignation at the plenary, after which lawmakers immediately re-elected her as the Assembly’s Deputy Speaker.
The lawmakers commended her leadership style and for bringing peace to the Lagos State House of Assembly. They also commended her strength and humility for obeying the rules and regulations of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
