BREAKING: ‘Obasa May Return As Speaker, Voluntarily Resign’

Amid the ongoing leadership crisis at the Lagos State House of Assembly, lawmakers may write to President Bola Tinubu over the removal of Mudashiru Obasa as Speaker.

Sources who spoke with Punch also indicate that Obasa may return to the House and be given the opportunity to resign voluntarily, following deliberations at a marathon meeting of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), held at the Governor’s Lodge in Marina, Lagos, on Monday.

A top member of the GAC, who spoke with the platform on Tuesday, confirmed that the discussions continued into the following day, with key stakeholders maintaining that Obasa’s removal on January 13, 2025, was illegal and a disrespect to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos.

The GAC, the highest decision-making body of the APC in Lagos, is composed of top party leaders who hold significant influence over the governance structure of the state, including the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Following Obasa’s impeachment, a former Deputy Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, was unanimously elected Speaker by the lawmakers.

However, some GAC members insist Obasa should be reinstated, at least temporarily, before considering a voluntary resignation.

A GAC member, Muraina Taiwo, reiterated the council’s position, saying that while the lawmakers seemed determined to retain Meranda, they must consider the “mind of the party.”

“It is important for the lawmakers to allow Obasa to return to the House, where he may then consider resigning by himself,”  Taiwo said.

He noted, “I’m aware that the GAC told them the mind of the party and the honorable members said they had made up their mind and they stand by it.

“They decided that they would write all their grievances and send them to Abuja (to the President).

“Let us wait and see between now and tomorrow (today) or thereafter maybe by the time they come back from Abuja, we know the way forward.”

Speaking further, he said the lawmakers could not force Obasa to resign. “My stand is that they (the lawmakers) should obey the directive of the leadership (of the party) and allow the speaker to resume work and cooperate with him. To resign, that is his (Obasa’s) own decision, not that they will force him to resign.”

When asked what the directive of GAC really was, he added, “The directive of the leadership is that they should allow him to continue his work because the leadership has considered that if he has committed any visible offence, we would have known, and they have not reported him before. What they did is not right politically and constitutionally.”

Naija News reports that he said it was correct for the lawmakers to inform Tinubu of their decisions, because “We believe Tinubu is our leader and will continue to be our leader forever.”

Another GAC member, who preferred anonymity, confirmed that the lawmakers were to write Tinubu.

When asked if lawmakers were to apologise to the President for not carrying him along in their decision as virally speculated, the GAC member said, “Yes, yes. They did more than that. They agreed he should resign and reverse the removal, that’s all.”

Meanwhile, GAC chairman, Tajudeen Olusi, in an interview with Punch on Tuesday, noted that GAC would only issue an official position when the time is ripe, saying, “At the appropriate time, we shall talk.”

When asked if GAC indeed gave the directives to the lawmakers, he queried, “Have you ever seen a statement issued by the appropriate authority of GAC stating this order?

“GAC is an organ created by our party and the government for internal assistance to governance in our state so if it is necessary for us to issue a statement, we will do that, so as long as we have not issued any statement authorised by our secretariat, forget about any such information as being official.”