By Tunji Adewale
“…It’s only if you have followership that you’re a leader in democracy. If I look back and I don’t find them again; if I don’t respond to them, if I fail to accede to their request, I would have failed the leadership test.”
That was President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in 2018, strongly justifying the basis for dumping the then Governor Akinwumi Ambode for Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in the build-up to the 2019 Lagos Governorship contest.
Tinubu’s ‘strange’ posture
For those who have followed Lagos State politics over the years, the belief is that once members of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) make up their minds over a matter, Tinubu hardly takes a different course. However, in the Lagos State House of Assembly crisis, Tinubu’s position appears to be at variance with that of the majority of GAC members. What could have been responsible for this somewhat ‘strange’ posture by President Tinubu, who about seven years ago had declared that “every democratic constitution is preceded by ‘We, the people.’ So, I had to submit myself to the wishes and the yearnings of our party. Talent is determined by character. For you to become an influential person, you have to respond to the yearnings of the people.”
Saturday Sun gathered that a number of reasons might have been responsible for what many consider as President Tinubu’s ‘strange’ posture in insisting that the impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa returns t o his position as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, after his initial sack on January 13, 2025, despite opposition from majority of GAC members and the lawmakers.
Saturday Sun investigations reveal that the need to have “a strong personality,” capable of putting the executive in the state under check, the need to ensure that Lagos West is represented in the power equation in Lagos, and the fear of the traditional institution in Lagos creating a new power bloc, among others, were some of the reasons responsible for Obasa’s dramatic return.
Of the reasons however, only one was said to have been strongly canvassed by President Tinubu, as the remaining were unlikely to resonate with other political leaders in the state, who believe that Obasa has overreached himself, and therefore, should be shoved aside. The only reason in the public domain, it was learnt, was the need not to leave Lagos West, the single largest senatorial district with the highest number of votes in the state, without a strong presence in the power sharing equation in Lagos. The President was said to have told those against Obasa’s return that the state could not afford to have the Speaker and the Governor coming from the same Lagos Central Senatorial District.
GAC members and Tinubu’s Lagos West stance
But Saturday Sun gathered that the above position was countered by another elder of the party who noted that the so called exclusion of Lagos West was necessitated by an exigency and that it was a non-issue, emphasising that “there is no complaint from the mass of Lagos West party members about Obasa’s removal.”
The elder further said the return of Obasa might lead to another round of crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly as the reinstated Speaker might want to seek vengeance against those who removed him.
“The members of the House of Assembly fear the implications and unintended consequences of returning Obasa to his former position. There is no crack in the House on this matter. They intend to forward their resolution to insist on Meranda to the party leadership,” the source revealed.
How Obasa’s return was sealed
Saturday Sun can confirm that the said position was conveyed to the party leadership and GAC, with sources claiming that the report informed the enlisting of senior citizens who though are not from the state, but are long time associates of Tinubu, to step in.
After their intervention, it was learnt that one of the serving lawmakers from Lagos West would step in as Speaker, with Madam Speaker reverting to her former position, Deputy Speaker, before Obasa’s sack.
However, in a twist of fate, it was Obasa, and not any other lawmaker from Lagos West, that emerged, with some party elders indicating that Obasa was unlikely to resign to pave way for any new Speaker after his re-election as Speaker during the week.
Palace coup
Sources claimed that beyond the issue of Lagos West, President Tinubu was miffed about the fact that such a ‘palace coup’ leading to the removal of the number three citizen in the state could happen without his knowledge and support, thus, fuelling the speculation that, unless he becomes very vigilant, those behind the “palace coup” could pull the rug off his feet.
“They are suspecting a top official in the Sanwo-Olu administration (name withheld) of being the brain behind the palace coup. The National Leader (Tinubu) is of the view that the governor himself might not be capable of plotting, strategizing and executing the removal of Obasa without any trace, until it happened. And that particular official, who is believed to be nursing governorship ambition, has been marked down.
“The truth is, apart from the fact that Madam Speaker, being the sister to the current Kabiyesi Oniru, which may invariably create another power bloc within the traditional institution, a thing the traditional rulers have been longing for and which the National Leader is unwilling to concede, he (National Leader) believes that when the need arises, Madam Speaker might not be able to stand up to Sanwo-Olu the way Obasa did to Ambode.
I believe, these reasons more than anything else, were responsible for why our National Leader wants Obasa as Speaker at all cost.
“We all thought Obasa was in firm control of the House until that incident happened. For those behind it to have been able to make Obasa lose the support of over 30 lawmakers within the span of one month, I agree with our leader that it calls for concern. But if I were our leader, I would find a way of bringing those lawmakers closer because what happened shows that there is danger ahead,” the source told Saturday Sun.
Why Meranda quit
Sources close to the immediate past Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, hinted that the desperation on the part of those who want her out at all cost convinced some of her aides to impress it on her to step down so as to avoid being hurt physically or otherwise.
It was further gathered that despite the insistence on the part of Obasa’s backers, the lawmakers and the elders of the party behind Meranda were equally more than willing to pull it through.
Obasa’s many ‘sins’
Saturday Sun recalls that those who supported the removal of Obasa last month, did so because they argued that the Speaker had been disrespectful to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, treating the Lagos first citizen like his “political boy,” whose views, however sound, appears not to matter in the running of Lagos State.
It was further gathered that Obasa’s lack of respect for Governor Sanwo-Olu’s person and the office he occupies got to the head during the last budget presentation.
Sources claimed that the way he treated the governor during the budget presentation did not go down well with a lot of elders of the party, who were said to have reached out to the president to call him to order. Similarly, his delay in the passage of the budget, shunning of state functions and the unguarded utterances about his own governorship ambition, among others, are some of the major sins of Obasa, with most of the elders voting for his ouster.
It was further gathered that Obasa ignores advice and directives from the party and party elders at will, as he always insists on doing what pleases him without recourse to the party or its elders.
For instance, before amending the Local Government Law, the party and its elders allegedly reached out to him and asked him to tarry for a while.
But Obasa was said to have insisted on carrying on, and he ignored the “wise counsel” from the party and its elders.
Also, his decision to shun the APC South-West meeting held in Lagos late last year did not go down well with the elders of the party. The meeting had in attendance the likes of Chief Bisi Akande, Chief Segun Osoba and other prominent leaders from the region.
But Obasa did not just shun the meeting, he directed all members of the House of Assembly to shun the said convergence.
Obasa was first elected Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker on June 8, 2015, through the influence of the late Senator Bayo Osinowo, otherwise known as Pepper. Three years after his emergence, he reportedly fell out with his late godfather who, soon after moved against the Lagos Speaker. But Obasa survived the plot.
And by 2019, ‘Pepper’, who was a member of the state assembly, was elected a senator from Lagos State, to represent Lagos- East Senatorial District. But he died barely a year after his election.
Before his death, however, Saturday Sun gathered that he allegedly made another attempt at shoving Obasa aside. Again, the plot failed. Obasa fought back and suspended some lawmakers who were involved in the plot. Therefore, once Pepper died, three months after Obasa survived the 2020 impeachment plot, some had thought it was all over, until the “palace coup” of January 13, 2025.
