By Akinwale Kasali
The once Rosy relationship among members of the Lagos State House of Assembly is gradually fading away.
The Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa-led Assembly is no longer at peace, as two factions have emerged- one loyal to the Speaker, and another which frowns at his leadership style, and are currently plotting for his impeachment.
The disunity has prompted power brokers in the State to initiate moves to remove the Speaker over allegations of high handedness and lack of transparency in the running the Assembly.
The magazine gathered that a meeting was held earlier in the week by the anti-Obasa group in Abuja, loyal to Senator Bayo Oshinowo (Lagos East Senatorial zone), who was a member of the Assembly.
Sources revealed revealed that some key chieftains of the party not in support of Obasa’s leadership, are looking for ways to punish the Speaker.
Said a source: “It’s very likely that the Speaker may be on his way out if the feelings of members and party leaders are anything to go by.”
The sources insisted to the magazine that the anti-Obasa lawmakers are, allegedly, in constant touch with the party leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Minister for Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who are aware of the crisis brewing in the House.
It would be recalled that on Monday 9th March, 2020, the Speaker passed a resolution sacking two principal officers and suspending two members indefinitely, citing gross misconduct, insubordination and action that could destabilize the House as reasons.
The principal officers removed include the Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru and the Deputy Majority Leader, Olumuyiwa Jimoh, while Moshood Oshun (Lagos Mainland Constituency II) and Kazeem Raheem Adewale (Ibeju Lekki Constituency II) were suspended.
Surprisingly, the Speaker announced the immediate replacements of the two principal officers by the Assembly with Hon. Noheem Adams from Eti-Osa Constituency 1 as the Deputy Majority Leader, and Mojisola Miranda representing Apapa constituency 1 as the new Chief Whip.
The suspended lawmakers are part of the anti-Obasa team. Hon. Abiru contested against Obasa for the Speakership when the 9th Assembly inaugurated .
Investigations revealed that a recent media report disclosing that N2.4billion was spent within 11 months to procure 80 cars for the 40 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly triggered the crisis, as the anti-Obasa challenged the Speaker to disclose how the money was spent.
When the news about the N2.4 billion went viral, a furious Speaker queried lawmakers on how the information got to the public space, an information considered ‘top secret’.
The magazine learnt that the Speaker had accused the suspended principal officers of being responsible for the leak which exposed the House to public scrutiny.
“The Speaker was unhappy that such information was leaked to the press. So he accused principal officers of not being loyal to him and disrespecting his orders and not ‘hiding’ confidential matters,” the source said.
He also accused the principal officers of being loyal to Oshinowo, and was uncomfortable with the influence the Senator possess even after leaving the Assembly for the Senate in Abuja.
But the source noted curiously that Oshinowo, popularly known as ‘Pepper’ by his supporters, backed Obasa to become the Speaker in 2015 and was also instrumental in 2019 when he retained his position as Speaker of the House while he faced stiff competition from the suspended Chief Whip, Hon. Abiru and the current Deputy Speaker, Eshinlokun Sanni, both of whom had their eyes on the seat and enjoyed the backing of former Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji and Senator Oluremi Tinubu respectively.
“The Speaker believes that the officers were not supporting him but were instead plotting for him to fail. Don’t forget that Abiru was backed by Ikuforiji to emerge as Speaker of the House in 2019, while ‘Pepper’ backed Obasa.”
Besides, the major decision to sack the principal officers and suspend the two lawmakers indefinitely, it is alleged that the issue on ground may not be unconnected with the spending of funds from the coffers of the House which they claim is shrouded in secrecy.
On a monthly basis, the House gets more than a billion naira for both running cost and capital project expenditure, but accountability, they allege, is a major issue.
Sources at the Assembly told the magazine that, “For your information, the House collects more than N1billion every month; for running cost and capital project expenditure, which is just going into the pocket of few persons. This is the major issue causing disquiet in the House at the moment.
“So, some lawmakers are speaking up and asking questions on how the money is being spent and this has not gone down well with those who for one reason or the other feel threatened that some people are challenging the status quo,” the source said.
But Obasa, the source noted, beyond the principal officers, is not having it all good with some lawmakers, who were elected for the first time into the House in 2019.
According to the source, Obasa’s leadership style does not sit well with the first timers in the House who consider him too authoritative and dictatorial in nature.
“Some of the new members of the House see the Speaker as a terror, his tyrannical and dictatorial nature does not sit well with them. The speaker is not also plain and coming out clean with what is coming into the coffers of the House and how it is being spent and questions are being asked without answers.”
The Chief Press Secretary of the Speaker, Tolani Abati, when contacted about the issues the Obasa Assembly is facing said he was not aware of the issues, saying that he had been in Abuja since Monday.
“I don’t have any details on the issue now, besides it is a House of Assembly issue and not the Speaker’s issue. So if you want anyone to speak to it, it would be the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon. Tunde Braimoh that can speak on it,” Abati said.
Reacting to the issues going on at the Assembly and the alleged friction between the Speaker and Senator Oshinowo, Obasa said that the political empire of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains strong and intact.
Obasa stressed the alleged rift with Senator Oshinowo is concocted by mischievous individuals saying that he dropped Senator Oshinowo off on his way to Abuja yesterday, and if there was a rift between them that wouldn’t have happened, he claimed.
He stated that Tinubu remained everything to the continued success of the party he built from the scratch and nurtured up to this moment.
“It is unarguable that his resilience, love for democracy, passion to see his foot-soldiers grow and belief in discipline cannot be measured.
“The legislature must remain strong at all times, especially in relation to Nigeria’s democracy because it is often the hardest hit where issues in the democratic journey pop up.
“This is why during plenary on Monday, March 9, I made this proclamation: ‘The parliament is a heartbeat of every democratic system, its sanctity, integrity and positive reputation should be guided and protected, hence discipline is a key and where it’s lacking, the hope of the people fizzle”, Obasa added.
