By Editor
The ousted Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, on Wednesday, denied reports linking him to stockpiling guns at his office at the assembly.
This is as the current Speaker of the House, Mojisola Meranda, denied resigning from her position.
Obasa denied reports linking him to some firearms allegedly uncovered at his office.
Online reports on Tuesday alleged that 47 pump-action guns were discovered by officials of the Department of State Services during a visit to the assembly on Monday.
Some versions of the reports claimed the weapons were found in Obasa’s office, while others suggested they were in the former Chief Security Officer’s office.
In a statement released by his aide and signed by Obasa on Wednesday, the former Speaker described the report as a “concoction.”
A source in the DSS had on Tuesday told The PUNCH that the report about the agency uncovering weapons at the assembly was false.
Obasa’s statement was titled Re: “DSS Uncovers Arms Cache In Obasa’s Office Day After Lagos Assembly Drama.”
He said, “The ill-conceived story, apart from being a complete concoction, clearly exposes its author and paymasters as maliciously of low intelligence quotient, only out to malign my hard-earned reputation spanning decades of political leadership and legislative hard work.
“From the foregoing, it is obviously discerning that my traducers are furtively attempting to call a dog a bad name just to hang it.”
“I consider their purported sudden discovery of ‘cache of arms ammunition in the Speaker’s Office as nothing but an afterthought, having sensed the futility of their illegal actions,” Obasa added.
Similarly, the Speaker’s Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, debunked the story that his principal, Meranda, had resigned.
An online report on Wednesday suggested that Meranda resigned her position, referencing an unconfirmed letter allegedly emanating from the speaker and circulating on social media for two days.
However, checks by The PUNCH showed that there was no Meranda’s signature on the letter dated February 17, 2025.
In a chat with The PUNCH on Wednesday, Meranda’s aide, Ajiboye, said, “I’m in the office. The Speaker is in the office. I don’t know where that (resignation report) is coming from.”
In another development, the Lagos Assembly, on Wednesday, denied reports claiming that 27 members of the All Progressives Congress had defected to the Labour Party.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Strategy, and Security, Ogundipe Olukayode, asserted that the APC remained “united and focused.”
He dismissed the reports of a “mass defection” from the ruling party as “riddled with inaccuracies and outright falsehoods.”
“The Lagos State House of Assembly wishes to categorically debunk the malicious and unfounded publication alleging that 27 members of the assembly are planning to defect from the ruling party to the opposition Labour Party. This publication is entirely false, misleading, and a deliberate attempt to misinform the public.
“We find this report not only offensive but also riddled with inaccuracies and outright falsehoods that serve no purpose other than to sow discord and confusion within the assembly and among the good people of Lagos State.
“The recent developments in the House, including the removal of the former Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, and the election of Mojisola Lasbat Meranda as the new Speaker, are purely internal matters. These actions were carried out in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.”
“We emphasise, without any ambiguity, that no member of the Assembly is contemplating defection,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Party Advisory Council in Lagos State, on Wednesday, called on Obasa to give peace a chance.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Chairperson of IPAC in the state, Temilola Akinade, stated this in an interview on Wednesday in Lagos.
It would be recalled that a speakership crisis at the assembly began on January 13, 2025 when 32 out of the 40-member assembly removed Obasa and replaced him with Deputy Speaker Mojisola Meranda.
The crisis, however, escalated on Monday when operatives of the Department of State Services sealed the offices of the new speaker and the deputy speaker as well as the chamber.
Akinade said that the umbrella body of political parties in the state was embarrassed by the latest development that interrupted the legislative process on Monday.
“IPAC will no longer accept distraction at the Lagos State House of Assembly. It is enough in the assembly that prides itself as above the common standard of excellence.
“The outgone speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, has done his best for the state; let him calm down and give peace a chance.
“The impeached speaker should allow Madam Speaker (Meranda) to continue from where he has stopped.
“The law allows lawmakers to choose one of them as the speaker and so, the overwhelming number of them have spoken and chosen Mojisola Meranda to lead them.
“We should not allow personal or group interest to destroy democracy in the state. Care must be taken,” she said.
Decrying the emotional stress the new speaker had been subjected to, the IPAC boss said that the leadership crisis must come to an end.
“The emotional stress Madam Speaker is going through now needs to come to an end for her to perform her legislative and leadership role, as expected.”
