After 49 Days, Obasa Returns As Lagos Assembly Speaker

…Says Return Shows Assembly’s Political Maturity
…Suspends Plenary Indefinitely, Meranda Gets Back As Deputy
…Says She Resigned To Save Assembly From Collapse

LAGOS – Dr. Mudashiru Obasa, who was removed as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly 49 days ago, has regained his position at Monday’s plenary.

Obasa was reinstated follow­ing the resignation of Mojisola Meranda, who stepped down from the role with immediate effect.

Meranda stepped down fol­lowing the agreement reached at the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision mak­ing body of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos.

The GAC, it would be recalled, met on Saturday where a final de­cision was reached for Meranda to step aside for the interest of peace in the state legislature, as her ascension to the position since January following the removal of the now reinstated speaker, threw the state and the Assembly into political crisis.

Speaking after his reinstate­ment, Obasa expressed gratitude to his colleagues and party lead­ers, including Bisi Akande and Olusegun Osoba, former gover­nors of Osun and Ogun states, respectively.

He described the transition as a sign of political maturity within the Assembly, adding that the leg­islature had its own mechanisms for resolving internal issues.

“Today is not the day for speech making but to appreciate our colleagues who have put a lot into this gathering today,” Obasa said.

“I thank the party leaders pres­ent here today and special thanks to Bisi Akande, former Osun gov­ernor; Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun.

“We have resolved and deter­mined to serve and protect the interest of Lagosians.

“What is happening today shows that the House is mature and has internal mechanism to resolve issues.

“Today is not the day for speech making, but to thank my colleagues for everything,” he said as he subsequently, adjourned the plenary.

Meanwhile, while earlier an­nouncing her decision to resign during Monday’s plenary session, Meranda described her quitting as a “personal sacrifice towards resolving this gravely, intangible leadership crisis rocking this As­sembly of patriots.”

She said, “It is with every sense of responsibility that I hereby give you notice of my decision to resign as the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, with ef­fect from today, 3rd March, 2025. I did not arrive at this decision lightly.

“Indeed, I took it in careful consideration of all the primary and intricate integral circum­stances that are connected with my election as Speaker on 13th of January, 2025.

“On the one hand, I am in recent present political turmoil, which is threatening the cohesion of this honourable House. On the other hand, we are the repre­sentative of the good people of Lagos, with a mandate to protect our democracy and ensure good governance. I am a good student of political history, and in this regard, I know that this is a point at which, as your leader, I have to make a selfless sacrifice to resign in order to protect the peace of the situation.”

She said further, “With your support, I made history as the first female Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, and I value and cherish your solidari­ty”, Meranda continued.

“I am sincerely grateful to each of you for your support and collaboration during my short but very interesting tenure. I leave this position as the right Honour­able Speaker of this House, and I shall continue to serve my good people of Apapa constituency in particular, and our team in Lagos in general. Thank you for finding me worthy to lead this distinguished and honourable Assembly.

“I am not a quitter. However, I took the above decision in order to save this legislative institution from further unnecessary conflict and embarrassment.”

Following her announcement, she was reinstated as Deputy Speaker, a position she previously held before Obasa’s removal.

Meanwhile, a former state law­maker, who is a staunch member of the All Progressives Congress in the state, has told our corre­spondent that what has happened in Lagos amounts to setting a bad precedence.

While preferring anonymity, the former lawmaker said there was no better way to describe the return of Obasa, saying the devel­opment had set a bad precedence.

“This is a bad precedence, to say the least,” he said.

“Others are impeached in oth­er states and nothing would hap­pen; why would the Lagos own be different.

“Obasa has lost the trust of his colleagues and I see a crisis brew­ing right now at the Assembly.

“It is obvious that Obasa won’t have the support of his colleagues and this is very unfortunate,” he said.