SUBAIR MOHAMMED gives a vivid account of how events played out in the Lagos State House of Assembly following the threat by the impeached Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa to resume in office, when the House resumed plenary on January 27.
There was obvious tension ahead of the resumption of sitting by members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday as part of the fallouts from the change of leadership in the House. Security was stepped up 24 hours to the sitting of the House. The situation was heightened by media hype of the solidarity rally the held by supporters of the impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, to his official residence after his return from a trip to the United States. Days after he was removed as speaker, Obasa had flown to Abuja from US.
On Monday, the other lawmakers in the House began the day’s activities with “holy baptism” of the office of the impeached speaker and a photo session. They prayed. They bounded and cast out unfamiliar spirits amid cheers and public show of loyalty and support to the new speaker, Rt. Honourable Mojisola Lasbat Meranda. Days after the outburst of the embattled ex-speaker at the reception held by his supporters in his honour on Saturday, his colleague lawmakers seemed unperturbed, as they held firmly to their choice of Rt. Honourable Meranda as the speaker of the House.
During the reception, Obasa vowed to resume at the Assembly as the speaker of the House. This declaration, no doubt, left the other legislators and the new leadership of the House under Meranda unsettled because with the ‘influence and grip’ the impeached speaker exerted on the House, the threat by the ‘Agege politician’ could not be discountenanced. The lawmakers were apparently prepared for any eventualities. They exhibited the unity and bond that existed among them through a group photograph taken in the speaker’s new office and within the Assembly premises in the full glare of the world. To them, Meranda is a new broom that would sweep away the out-dated practices of the past leadership of Assembly, and the change will favour reform and accelerate the implementation of new ideas.
Outside of the premises was tensed and fearful as armed security men mounted guard at the Assembly gate scrutinising every visitor to House and on guard for any perceived threat. They subjected lawmakers and journalists to thorough check and frisking with an eagle eye on lawmakers that were former allies of the sacked speaker. As the screening intensified, the former majority leader under the erstwhile speaker, Honourable Noheem Adams, came into the picture. He was spared of the guards’ search. Adam, a staunch loyalist of Obasa, drove into the Assembly premises in a black unmarked Range Rover with music blaring from his car. He was stopped by the security personnel but obviously offended by this; he drove off not being checked.
Meanwhile, Chairman, House Committee on Information, Honourable Stephen Ogundipe said of the photo session as a display of allegiance and loyalty to the new leadership. He said with it, the lawmakers reaffirmed their support for Madam Speaker. He, however, dismissed threats by the former speaker that the status quo ante subsists as a mere speculation. Adams said: “We are solidly for the new speaker. Nothing has changed.”
GAC role not satisfactory, bias- Group
Since the termination of the speakership reign of Obasa, members of the apex advisory organ in Lagos State, the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) have had their fair share of the blame game. One of such groups that are at the forefront of the call for the reinstatement of the embattled ex-speaker is The Progressives Alliance (PA). The group kicked against the emergence of Meranda as the speaker, alleging injustice and ill-treatment of party members from the zone. The convener of the group, Honourable Segun Banjo, claimed that out of the 40 lawmakers in the House, 20 of them are from the Lagos West hence the zone should retain its slot to occupy the speakership position in the spirit of justice and fairness.
He said: We have no issue with Obasa’s removal after all he wasn’t elected into the House as a speaker. He was elected as a lawmaker. But our concern is that the lawmakers were not well guided in electing Meranda as the new speaker. It is appalling and disturbing that they passed over all the eminently qualified 20 lawmakers from our zone, which has the largest electoral asset in terms of votes and membership of the All progressives Congress (APC) and handed it over to Lagos Central, where Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also comes from. It is nowhere in the House’s rule book that if a speaker is removed, his replacement must be his deputy. Furthermore, examples of political correctness guided by fair distribution of political offices that address both religious and sectional interests are abounds in the political space in Nigeria.
The aggrieved party members reproached GAC members from Lagos West, including Secretary of the GAC, Alhaji Mutiu Aare, former Lagos deputy governor, Adejoke Adefulire Adejoke, former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, APC State chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, Prince Rabiu Adio Oluwa; and former State Chairman, Chief Henry Oladele Ajomale. “It’s scandalous that these leaders sit back and allow the speakership position to slip away from the Lagos West. In any case, we leave them to posterity to judge them,» Banjo stated.
GAC mum
Amid the escalating tension over the leadership of the House and altercation between members of the GAC, the secretary of the organ, Alhaji Are said the elders’ group has adopted a no-further comment standpoint on the matter. This position was sequel to the altercation between two members of the council, Senator Obanikoro and Senator Anthony Adefuye, who held divergent views on the removal of the speaker. While Adefuye believed that Obasa was illegally removed from office, Obanikoro on his part, was not happy the elder made an open declaration.
Meanwhile, in his submission, he opined that the issue will be resolved in a family way. He stated: “Whatever is currently going on in Lagos politics is a family affair. As elders, I’m not supposed to be taking a side. We would resolve everything because the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) being the apex advisory organ has its own mechanism in resolving matters like this. By virtue of my position as the secretary of the body, I’m not given an express permission to speak to the matter. But I can tell you that we’ll resolve it in a family way.”
Probe
In the meantime, indications emerged that the new leadership of the House may investigate the tenure of the former speaker based on sundry allegations. He was removed by the majority members of the House over allegations bordering on abuse of office and lack of respect for other lawmakers. Honourable Abiodun Tobun representing Epe Constituency 1, gave the hint about the possible probe of the impeached speaker and the suspended clerk of the House, Mr Olalekan Onafeko. “Therefore, for equity, fairness and justice, the new speaker may likely constitute a panel to investigate the allegations,” Tobun said.
But reacting to the allegations during a reception organised for him by his supporters, Obasa denied his involvement in any shady financial dealings. He said: “I must take the advantage to debunk the reports that have been circulating. It was said that I spent N17b to construct an ordinary gate. How is this possible? Is it a wall of Jericho or US-Mexico Wall? We are a 40-member House of Assembly. For security sake, we bought 45 Hilux van and they now claim that we spent N45 billion to procure the vans. They said I spent N1b to purchase a van. This is not possible. How can someone claim to buy a Hilux van for N1b when it is not a limousine car. Is it possible to buy a Hilux van for N1 billion? I have not done anything wrong. They should not discredit an innocent person, they should prove their allegations against me. The Lagos State House of Assembly is above common standard of excellence. I believe in the image of our institution, we must not destroy it and I will never partake in its destruction.”
However, efforts to get the spokesman of the House, Honourable Stephen Ogundipe to comment on the matter did not succeed as he neither picked calls placed to his line nor responded to messages.
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