The Speaker of the Lagos State Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda has finally gained access to the chambers of the House following hours of heavy security presence in and around the roads leading to the complex. Monday’s incident comes amid the leadership tussle rocking the House of Assembly following the removal of Mudashiru Obasa as the Speaker last month.
Earlier in the day, the leadership tussle in the House took a new twist with heavy security presence at the premises during a plenary session. Security vans and personnel were spotted in and outside the premises of the Lagos Assembly complex in the Alausa Area of the commercial city. Ahead of the plenary, security personnel manned various roads leading to the Lagos Assembly complex.
There was a mild drama when some of the security agents tried to gain access to the Assembly chambers. These delayed the plenary for some hours.
But an official of the Assembly later told Channels Television that the Speaker, Meranda and 32 members of the lawmaking body were present for Monday’s plenary.
While issues to be discussed at the plenary are unclear as of the time of this report, some members of the House and workers were spotted discussing in clusters inside the premises.
Although a source said that the leadership of the House is intact, the workers’ action further lent credence to speculations that the Speaker had been asked to resign or might have be impeached.
Some workers at the Assembly were spotted surrounding Meranda. They insisted that they wanted her to stay as the speaker of the House.
Members of the Assembly removed long-term Speaker Obasa over allegations of fraud and other sundry charges. They thereafter elected Meranda in his replacement in a historic move that saw the member representing Apapa Constituency I become the first Speaker of the Assembly.
‘The Constitution makes it clear that the House has the powers to regulate its proceedings. So, the members of the House felt that they’ve had enough of the Rt Hon Mudashiru Obasa and today, we have unanimously agreed that Rt Hon Mojisola Meranda Lasbat becomes the new Speaker of the House’, a member of the Assembly representing Epe Constituency 1, Hon. Abiodun Tobun said in defence of Obasa’s impeachment.
Tobun argued that the lawmakers ‘owe Lagos State a duty of ensuring that the sanctity of the House and the integrity of this House are restored’.
Obasa who was away during his removal, however, insisted he was still the Lagos Assembly Speaker, denying allegations of corruption levelled against him.
The former Speaker, who represents the Agege constituency, said the allegations were ‘fictitious and unsubstantiated.
‘My status in the house? I believe strongly I am still the speaker until the right thing has been done,” the lawmaker said in a press conference organised at his Ikeja home in Lagos.
‘If you want to remove me, remove me the proper way and I will not contest it. “I’m a Muslim and I believe in fate. But let’s do it the way it should be done’.
Weeks after his removal, Obasa dragged the Assembly and Meranda before the state High Court challenging his sack as the Speaker of the House.
He asked the court to declare that his removal by his colleagues was unlawful owing since the Assembly was on break.
