Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday insisted that the removal of the former Speaker Mudasiru Ajayi Obasa stands, declaring that they had unanimously rejected him from office and, therefore, no longer the speaker of 40- member parliament.
The lawmakers gave this stand at the Assembly premises after Obasa stormed the premises early Thursday morning, escorted by the police and officers of the Department of State Security (DSS).
In the day, reports had it that the security details of the incumbent Speaker, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, as well as security operatives guiding the Assembly premises were withdrawn by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), while hours later, Obasa in company of security operatives stormed the Assembly and forcefully took over the office of the Speaker.
Reaffirming their support for the new Speaker, one of the lawmakers, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe, who spoke on behalf of the 18 lawmakers present at the Assembly premises, insisted that their decision on Obasa’s removal stands despite the all forms of intimidation.
Ogundipe recalled that words of assurance had come from leaders, urging them to “remain calm but we were shocked with what happened this morning.”
He, however, to the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to intervene as they could not “continue this way,” describing what took place early Thursday morning as uncalled for, a charade and embarrassment, which cannot stand.
“We are doing our duties despite all the intimidations. This is Lagos and Lagos House of Assembly. We were approached by our leaders that we should remain calm but we were shocked with what happened this morning. We are still expecting them to come and tell us where we went wrong.
“We won’t take law into our hands but we all belong to different constituencies and we have our mandates. We are not happy and shocked with what is happening.
“We have not done anything against the state or anybody but we want to be respected and given our dignity, to be shown that we were elected. I am appealing to the leadership of our party that we cannot continue this way. They have taken us to court and it’s for us to let it take its full course.
“What we are seeing today is uncalled for, it’s a charade, it can not stand, it’s an embarrassment. For me to even enter the gate, I was stopped. I was told by the security that I could not enter.
“We have said we are not against the leadership’s decision but they should tell us to our face, not hearing rumours. We reject Obasa in totality,” he said.
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