The quest to return Hon Mudashiru Obasa, the impeached Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly to office which recently dominated the news in Nigeria may have suffered a set back. However, insiders say that the defeat of Obasa was also a tight victory for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu whose job reportedly came on the line over the zoning configurations in the state.
Governor Sanwo-Olu and the new speaker of the house, Rt Hon Mojisola Meranda are from Lagos Central and a peace proposal reportedly dictated by a powerful Lagos politician in Abuja to the Governor’s Advisory Council, GAC was that either of the two – Sanwo-Olu or Meranda should step down to restore the zoning configuration.
GWG.ng reports that prior to the impeachment that the three senatorial districts were represented in the first three offices in the state with Governor Sanwo-Olu from Lagos Central, his deputy Babafemi Hamzat from Lagos East and Obasa from Lagos West.
Until January 13, when Obasa was impeached by 32 out of 40 members of the assembly he was one of the longest serving speakers in the history of the state. He was also reportedly, a major operative for President Bola Tinubu in the powerful Lagos West that has about half of the population of the state.
Obasa’s influence had also grown with the exit of Rauf Aregbesola from the Tinubu political family. Sources say that he had become a sort of tool for the president in stabilising the political dynamics in the state.
Though the president was not happy with his alleged arrogance towards the governor when the issue was brought up during his Christmas holiday, sources say that the president’s rebuke of Obasa did not amount to his endorsement of his impeachment.
It was as such not surprising that his removal generated a lot of political tension in the state which split members of All Progressives Congress (APC). While some supported the move based on what they alleged as his arrogance, others were especially put off because of the fracture of the zoning system in the state.
Others saw it as an insult on President Bola Tinubu for the speaker of his state to be removed without his knowledge.
President Bola Tinubu GWG.ng learnt, was worried over Obasa’s impeachment and his replacement with Meranda who hails from Lagos Central, the same zone with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
This was because with the latest development Lagos Central has the two positions of speaker and governor while Lagos East has deputy governor with Lagos West getting nothing.
GWG.ng is unable to confirm that there were feelers from the president’s camp to the GAC to resolve the issue by ensuring that one of the two officials in Lagos Central stepped down.
“What we heard was that the GAC was told that if they insist that Obasa should go that they also should balance the zoning and ensure that either Sanwo-Olu or Meranda should step down for Lagos West to get something,” a source conversant with the development told GWG.ng
The choice for the GAC choosing between Sanwo-Olu and Speaker Mojisola Marenda for Lagos Central was a major dilemma.
But when the lawmakers from Lagos west in the assembly met with GAC members they unequivocally declared support for the new speaker instead of returning Obasa to his position. It was at that point the hope of returning Obasa as speaker was dashed.
Tinubu’s consideration on zoning flows from the tight election he ran in 2023 in Lagos when he was defeated by Peter Obi in the presidential election. As a result the president it was gathered is very considerate of issues in Lagos and does not want it to be seen as if he is against a powerful zone like Lagos West.
(GWG.NG)
