Mudashiru Obasa, the ousted Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, returned to the Assembly on Thursday, weeks after his removal on January 13, 2025.
News About Nigeria gathered that he presided over a plenary session with only four lawmakers present.
Later that day, he appeared on television to speak about the events surrounding his removal and his return.
Obasa insisted that he was never properly removed as Speaker.
He claimed that the process used to remove him did not follow the rules of the House.
According to him, in a constitutional democracy, lawmakers must follow legal procedures, and any impeachment or removal must be done correctly.
He explained that when the Assembly went on recess, it was agreed that the House would reconvene on February 18.
Since the Speaker has the power to reconvene the House, he argued that any meeting held without his approval was invalid.
He also accused some lawmakers of forcefully taking over the Speaker’s office and bringing security officers into the House of Assembly.
He said his house was surrounded by police, and security officers were stationed outside his residence.
However, he maintained that he had no personal problem with his colleagues, including Mojisola Meranda, who was declared the new Speaker after his removal.
When asked about accusations of fraud and abuse of power, Obasa denied any wrongdoing.
He stated that all financial transactions of the House were properly recorded and could be checked by the bank or the Assembly’s accounting department.
He questioned why these allegations were coming up now, despite him being Speaker since 2015.
He also mentioned that he had faced similar accusations in the past, which led to investigations, but no evidence was found against him.
There have been rumours that Obasa was removed because he had ambitions to become the governor of Lagos State.
However, he denied this, saying he had never told anyone that he wanted to run for governor.
He also addressed claims that President Bola Tinubu was supporting his fight to remain Speaker.
Obasa said he had always been loyal to Tinubu but that he was acting on his own, not under any political influence.
Obasa stated that he was open to resolving the leadership crisis in the Assembly.
He reminded everyone that the majority of the lawmakers were from the same political party and that they could work together to settle their differences.
He also pointed out that the court had ruled that the removal of the Clerk of the House was illegal, which led to the Clerk being reinstated.
Despite the ongoing crisis, Obasa remained confident that the issue would be resolved in the right way.
He urged his supporters to remain calm, insisting that he was acting lawfully and that he was ready to defend himself against any accusations.
