The opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party, in Lagos State, have demanded a probe of the impeached Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa, by the anti-graft agencies.
They made the call on Tuesday, 24 hours after Obasa was ousted by his colleagues, citing corruption allegations amongs others.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Tuesday, the Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode, said by now the state Assembly should have submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe the fraud allegations against the former Speaker.
Amode said, “As it is now, it should not be a word of mouth. He who alleges must prove. They should be fair and honest with themselves and Lagosians by sending a petition officially to the EFCC and put the allegations there so that the EFCC can then do a thorough job.
“If it’s just because they have some internal issues within themselves within their party, and they decide to remove him, they are within their rights as members of the state Assembly. They are within their rights to choose who leads them.
“But the allegation of false enrichment and all of the other allegations that were made, they need to send a petition to the anti-graft agency and Lagosians need to know what actually happened. That is, when and where? Within how many months or years? Is it something systemic that has been going on for some time or it’s just a one-off thing?
“The EFCC will be in a better position to look at it to look at it and arraign him quickly so he himself can also clear his name to say that ‘I have not done this?’”
Maintaining a similar position, LP Secretary, Sam Okpala, said there should be consequences.
“Speaking as a Nigerian and as a Lagosian, if there are allegations against the impeached Speaker, he should be made to face the law as long as it is not a witch-hunt, as long as it is not persecution. If there is a prima facie case against him, he should be made to face the full wrath of the law.
“Our law should not be for witch-hunt or persecution but if anybody runs foul of the law, he should face the law, that is our position.”
Also, prominent PDP national chieftain, Chief Bode George, said Obasa deserved to be impeached for disrespecting the governor’s office.
George described as “despicable and dishonourable” the treatment Obasa meted out to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu during the 2024 budget presentation.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Tuesday night, George expressed his disapproval, saying, “Immediately I heard and read about what the Speaker did—the way he treated the Executive Governor of Lagos State during the annual budget presentation—it was despicable and dishonourable.
“They are in the same party, with leaders in the party. Disrespecting him, they stood there for hours without even allowing him to present the budget. That was an infringement and a direct insult to the executive governor. Nobody will allow that,” George said. (Punch)
