February 15, 2025
The power play at Lagos state house of assembly has taken a new twist as the impeached former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has dragged the Assembly and the new Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, challenging the legality of his impeachment.
In the suit which was yet to be assigned to a judge, Obasa, asked the court to declare that the Lagos State House of Assembly acted unlawfully by removing him from office as Speaker while the Assembly was on recess.
Dated February 12, 2025, and filed by his lawyer, Chief Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), the plaintiff, in the application claimed that he was removed from his position on January 13, 2025, by 36 lawmakers while he was out of the country on recess.
The impeached speaker was seeking the following reliefs: an order of the court fixing a date for the accelerated hearing of the case and to shorten the time allowed for the defendants to respond with counter-affidavits or written addresses to seven days post-hearing.
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He also asked the court to order that the time for the plaintiff to file their replies on points of law be limited to three days.
Obasa’s application was based on nine grounds, focusing on the interpretation of various sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and the Rules and Standing Orders of the Lagos State House of Assembly regarding impeachment.
He also challenged the constitutionality of the Lagos State House of Assembly’s sitting and proceedings during recess without the Speaker formally convening the House or delegating authority to someone else to do so.
Obasa maintained that the court must urgently determine the legality behind the Assembly’s current leadership because it violated the applicable laws and rules.
“Public interest necessitates that this case be heard and resolved quickly to avoid disruption of legislative activities in the state,” he stated.
However, the case was yet to be assigned to a judge and no date has been fixed for the hearing.
