Lagos: The Fall Of Obasa And His Gov Gambit

The 2023 Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party in Lagos state, Gbadebo Rhoes-Vivor has disclosed that the embattled former Speaker of the state Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa was removed because of his governorship ambition.

Rhodes-Vivor made the remark while reacting to the impeachment of Obasa on Monday by all the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

The former speaker was out of the country when the other lawmakers  of the 50-member Assembly removed him from office, accusing him of corruption and over-handedness.

A new Speaker,  Mojisola Lasbat Miranda, who until yesterday the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly has since been elected to replace the former Speaker.

According to the LP candidate, the powers-that-be in the state moved against the former Speaker because of his reported ambition to contest the state governorship election in 2027.

Obasa has been mentioned among potential governorship aspirants from the Ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, who include Seyi Tinubu, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s son; former Governor Akinwumi Ambode, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila, amongst others.

Sources tracking the development revealed that the former speaker had ruffled feathers recently when he, during the presentation of the 2025 Budget by the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu said he’s qualified to rule the state.

He had said “ becoming governor is secondary; it is something that I have not given serious consideration. Nevertheless, that does not mean I am too young or lack experience to run; whereas, those who have been before me are not better off.”

Rhodes-Vivor said some powerful forces in the state have arrogated the powers to determine who becomes governor in the state to themselves, and are not happy that the former speaker was planning to lead the state.

In a veiled reference to President Tinubu, the former LP governorship candidate said Obasa’s governorship gambits was not in tandem with the president’s, who is the major decider of who becomes the governor of the state.

He dismissed the allegations of financial impropriety against the former Speaker, wondering while it took the lawmakers so long to realize that Obasa was corrupt.

He said, “It’s interesting that the EFCC just realized the corruption of APC Lagos politicians. It is not a coincidence that they all have ambition to become the next governor.

“Your principal has just indirectly communicated that Lagos is his birthright and that of his descendants, and every aspiring APC politician exists solely to further his interest and that of his family.

“I have said this before and will say it again. Lagos is bigger than him and we must remind him that Lagos is not his to bequeath,” he wrote.”

Faud Oki,  a chieftain of the party in the state in his reaction said the former speaker was full of himself, and has become ‘recalcitrant’ about resolving the crisis of confidence between him and Governor Sanwo-olu and other APC leaders in the state.

He accused Obasa of being indisposed to resolving the crisis, saying he has become an ‘emperor’ and  “that was what broke the camel’s back,.”

Also, Jide Ojo a political analyst said Obasa’s impeachment was a ‘self inflicted own-goal’, describing the saga as the ‘politics at its peak’ in the state.

He added that Obasa’s ‘snide’ against Governor Sanwo-Olu during the 2025 Budget presentation was one of the reasons why he was impeached, wondering ‘why he did what he did’, adding that the power brokers in the state were already fed up with the former speaker.

He stated further that when the ‘president weighed in on his feud with the governor,  Obasa ‘showed a measure of stubbornness’, adding that he was only privilege to be the speaker of the Assembly as all the lawmakers are equal. The former speaker, he said, must have overrated himself to the extent that he arrogated too much control to himself at the expense of other political leaders in the state.

The magazine reported that Obasa was scolded by President Tinubu  last month in Lagos during a meeting with  the leaders of the party, on how to resolve the crisis of confidence between him and the governor.

The meeting, which brought together members of the Governor Advisory Council, GAC, the influential political advisory body to the governor of the state, was, according to sources called at the instance of the president who was poised to resolve the feud between Obasa and Governor Sanwo-Olu once and for all.

During the meeting, Tinubu was said to have tongue-lashed the former speaker for disrespecting the governor, and ordered him to drop his governorship ambition.

Tinubu’s son, Seyi is currently eyeing the governorship seat, according to sources close to him, who said the president may be considering his own son to take a shot at the highest office in the state for the first time.

Tinubu, ably described as the political godfather of the state has been instrumental to the emergence of all the governors in the state, after exiting office in 2027.  It impossible to become governor without his approval, those familiar with the politics of the state said.

On Monday, the Minister of Youth Development,  Ayodele Olawande said the president’s son is a top contender for the state governorship in 2027.

Olawande said, “He is not too young to become a governor, that’s the truth. Everybody has a tendency to become whatever it is you want to become.  He is a well-trained young man that has built a lot of young people, massive young people even when his father is not the president.

“He paves a way for you to grow. As the President’s son, he is not away in the United States or somewhere else enjoying himself, but he is there doing the work himself and wants to see how things can go well for the young people of this country.”