Mudashiru Obasa, the impeached Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, has sued the Lagos State High Court to be reinstated as Speaker immediately.
In court documents that Peoples Gazette was able to collect, Obasa asserts that on January 13, 2025, he was forcibly removed from office.
The Lagos State House of Assembly and the current Speaker, Lasbat Mojisola Meranda, are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed on February 14, 2025.
The lawsuit comes after multiple unsuccessful political attempts to resolve the leadership conflict between Lagos and Abuja. The impasse has allegedly continued despite President Bola Tinubu’s order for Obasa to be reinstated, with lawmakers reportedly fearing possible reprisals from the ousted Speaker if he were to return to office.
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In his lawsuit, Obasa contested the validity of the plenary session that led to his impeachment, claiming that it was illegally conducted without the required authority during the Assembly’s recess.
“The action challenged the Lagos State House of Assembly’s sitting and proceedings to sit during recess without reconvening the House or giving any other person powers to reconvene the House,” according to the filing.
According to Mr. Obasa, the session broke the Lagos State House of Assembly Rules and Standing Orders, particularly Order V Rule 18(2) and Order II Rule 9(i-viii), as well as Sections 36, 90(2)(c), 101, and 311 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Despite President Tinubu’s hard stance, there have been indications that the leadership situation has gotten worse. Anger over the hold-up in restoring Obasa, Tinubu recently turned down a meeting with the Lagos APC’s Governance Advisory Council (GAC) members, claiming they were disobeying his orders.
Nonetheless, there is still a lot of opposition within the party. “Moves to reinstate Mr. Obasa would be rejected,” said GAC member Muraina Akanbi Taiwo, in response to the demand for Obasa’s reinstatement. In the state, Mr. Tinubu is not God.
