Obasa: Tinubu Losing Grip On Lagos As DSS Hunts Assembly Members

When 32 out of the 40 members of the Lagos State Assembly removed Mudashiru Obasa as speaker on January 13, President Bola Tinubu was in Abu Dhabi while Obasa was also in the United States of America.

Mojisola Meranda, Obasa’s erstwhile deputy, was immediately sworn in as the new speaker in a seamless process that took place within the assembly complex.

Top APC sources in Lagos have confirmed to THE WHISTLER that Tinubu was not informed about the plot to remove Obasa.

The removal was planned and executed with the knowledge of the 24 powerful rulers of Lagos described as the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) led by 85-year-old Prince Tajudeen Olusi.

The action has been interpreted by political watchers in the state as an affront to the leadership of Tinubu who is the National leader of the party.

Operatives from the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigeria Police invaded the state assembly on Monday, sealing off the offices of Speaker Mojisola Meranda, her deputy, and the House clerk.

The invasion of the state assembly complex is seen by party leaders as Tinubu’s attempt to return Obasa to his post and re-establish his political control of Lagos State.

Sources told THE WHISTLER that Tinubu is unhappy with the GAC, which is also said to have been fractured by Obasa’s removal.

The president refused to see members of the GAC, including the new speaker, when they came to Abuja recently to resolve the issues shortly before Tinubu travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government.

“President Tinubu was not informed that Obasa would be removed as speaker,” said a source close to the president.

“Although Obasa had his faults, the president felt he should have been informed about any such plan to remove a high-level political officeholder.”

Obasa has continued to insist he remains the speaker of the state assembly, saying due process was not followed by the lawmakers who purportedly removed him.

He also initiated a legal battle to challenge his ouster at the Ikeja Division of the State High Court.

Lawmakers Under Fire For Removing Obasa
After Obasa’s impeachment, the DSS arrested and detained two members of the state assembly, Messrs Lanre Afinni and Sylvester Ogunkelu, at their office in Magodo, Lagos.

The members were reportedly detained for interrogation, and it took a protest by lawmakers at the DSS office before they were released.

The invasion of the assembly today marks an escalation of the conflict.

“This problem should have been resolved in-house instead of with this attempt to intimidate the lawmakers and force them to return Obasa as speaker,” said another top Lagos APC source.

The legality of Obasa’s removal remains at the centre of the political controversy in Lagos State.

Tinubu Vs GAC

The drama around the removal of Obasa has clearly shown a crack in Tinubu’s grip on Lagos.

The GAC was formed and headed by Tinubu as a way of rallying major stakeholders of the party within the state. It takes major decisions such as the mode of primaries, candidates of the party in elections and even the executives of the party.

Tinubu has used the GAC to maintain his political grip on the structure of the party in the state.

The members of the GAC include all three senators representing Lagos, some ex-governors and senators of the state, and a speaker of the state assembly, among others.

Obasa: Tinubu Losing Grip On Lagos As DSS Hunts Assembly Members is first published on The Whistler Newspaper