THE leadership crisis rocking the Lagos State House of Assembly, yesterday, took a new twist as Vanguard uncovered fresh moves to return Mr Mudashiru Obasa as Speaker.
The House has been in crisis following the removal of Mr Obasa and former Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, by 32 lawmakers on January 13, 2025, and elected Mrs Mojisola Meranda as the substantive speaker.
Multiple sources close to the Presidency and other principal actors in the crisis told Vanguard that overtures have been made to lawmakers to soft-pedal and support the embattled former Speaker.
Vanguard was reliably informed that members of the Governance Advisory Council, GAC, were also asked to rein in the anti-Obasa lawmakers.
This followed the disbandment of the Bisi Akande committee over its findings on the matter.
Vanguard further learned that the committee was disbanded owing to the report it submitted after its visit that the odds were against Obasa.
The President had set up a high-powered committee of the party led by Bisi Akande and members including Aremo Olusegun Osoba, and former APC National Vice Chairman, South-west, Pius Akinyelure and others to resolve the crisis.
It further gathered that after the disbandment of the Akande committee, members of GAC were asked to rein in their loyalists in the Assembly and executive to back Obasa.
The source said: “The Bisi Akande committee has been disbanded. The president has reached out to members of GAC who have loyalists or children in the Assembly to insist they work for Obasa’s return as Speaker.
“For those who do not have children in the Assembly but have other political loyalists in the State Executive Council, they have been mandated to ensure Obasa is returned.
“Obasa, on the other hand, has also been reaching out to lawmaker opposed to him in an attempt to gain their support.”
Court may decide Obasa, Meranda’s fate
Another source told Vanguard that if the strategies to rein in the anti-Obasa fail to scale through, the Presidency and party leaders are considering allowing the courts resolve the crisis.
Sources in the presidency said: “The President is insisting Obasa must return but the Assembly members are also throwing their weight behind Meranda. The two camps do not want to shift grounds. As it is, the court will decide who the Speaker is and you know how judicial process works, it will move from the High Court to Appeal Court and from there, to the Supreme Court; the court will decide.”
The embattled former Speaker had dragged Meranda, the Assembly and 36 lawmakers to court challenging his ‘unlawful’ removal.
Justice Yetunde Rukayat Pinheiro of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, last Friday, adjourned the hearing of all pending applications in the lawsuit filed by Obasa, to March 7.
(Vanguard)
