Obasa impeached by Lagos Assembly, replaced by Mojisola Meranda as Speaker

The Lagos State House of Assembly has  impeached  its  Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa .

The House impeached Obasa at an emergency plenary  in Ikeja on Monday.

The  Deputy Speaker, Mrs Mojisola Meranda(APC-Apapa 1) was  subsequently elected and  sworn in by the lawmakers as new Speaker .

NAN reports that the Clerk of the House, Mr Olalekan Onafeko ,was also  suspended indefinitely, while the Chief Whip of the House, Mr Mojeed Fatai, was  elected  the new Deputy Speaker.

NAN reports that security officials have taken over the premises of the Assembly to forestall any breakdown of law and order

Details surrounding Obasa’s impeachment had yet to emerge as at the time of publishing this  report as  official statements were yet to be issued by the Assembly or its leadership.

However, insiders suggest  allegations of financial impropriety may have played a significant role in his removal.

Obasa (APC-Agege I), a sixth term lawmaker, had held the speakership position for years, and had been enmeshed in  controversies in the past over alleged mismanagement of Assembly funds.

Obasa’s impeachment has opened  a new chapter in the annals of the House.

In 2020, Sahara Reporters reportedly released allegation reports on misappropriation of public funds against Obasa. He however denied all the allegations.

Sahara Reporters later reported that Obasa was taken in for questioning by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on 8 and 9 October 2020. According to an inside source confirmed to Sahara Reporters that Obasa feigned sickness during the interrogation at the EFCC’s office, which caused interrogation to be stopped. Obasa had to be taken to the EFCC office’s sick bay before being released on bail.^[13] Obasa then supposedly requested the return of his passport, ostensibly to seek medical treatment abroad before going on Umrah to meet with Bola Tinubu in Saudi Arabia. Obasa remains under investigation by the EFCC for allegations of misappropriation and fraud