Contrary to beliefs that all is now well with the Lagos State House of Assembly following a recent mediation by President Bola Tinubu, Huhuonline.com can report that the situation in the Assembly remains tense and far from over.
On Wednesday, March 12, Tinubu met with the lawmakers, the result being his declaration that the lawmakers should work with Obasa, who had, days earlier, been reinstated by the lawmakers against their collective wishes.
A lawmaker who was at the meeting, told Huhuonline.com that the President was bitter over the situation. According to Tinubu, the Speaker had not handled leadership of the Assembly as he should. …CONTINUE READING
“The President really scolded Obasa and made him realise that he can no longer have a hold on any of us. He categorically told Obasa that he has been demystified and that the legislative arm cannot be the same again.
“He also scolded the Speaker for arriving late to meetings just like he did on the day we met with the President. It was a confirmation of one of our allegations. The President understood that we were genuinely aggrieved but there were reasons he took the decision to support Obasa ahead of us.
“Believe me, Tinubu was not keen about Obasa’s reinstatement because of his love for the Speaker. He was mostly particular about the porousness of the Lagos West senatorial district of the state,” a lawmaker confided in Huhuonline.com
MISTAKE BY LAWMAKERS
The biggest mistake the lawmakers made, according to insider sources, was the elevation of Princess Mojisola Lasbat Meranda to the position of the Speaker after the removal of Obasa on January 13.
Meranda is from the Lagos Central Senatorial district just as the governor. The State’s Deputy Governor is from Lagos East. This creates a vacuum in the Lagos West which is considered the biggest decider in elections.
“In the heat of the tension and to make a mark, we had picked Meranda who was Deputy Speaker to become the Speaker upon Obasa’s removal. But our mistake was that we should have considered the political importance of Lagos West.
“Even when we attended a meeting with the GAC (Governance Advisory Council), nobody from the Lagos West was interested in the Speakership. Everyone was just emphatic on the removal of Obasa and our stand to support Meranda against all odds. But after that meeting, we began to understand where we had made a mistake. Lagos West is very important to our party if we must succeed.
“Maybe if we had picked a person from Lagos West, it would have helped,” a ranking lawmaker explained.
THE RAUF AREGBESOLA FACTOR
One of the major concerns of Tinubu about the crisis at the Lagos State House of Assembly is the lost love that exists between the President and Rauf Aregbesola, his former ally and Ex-Minister in the Muhammadu Buhari administration. At the twilight of the Buhari administration, the relationship between Tinubu and Aregbesola went sour, a situation that affected the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos during the presidential election.
To prove his hold on the Lagos West, Aregbesola stormed Lagos just before the governorship election, campaigned and delivered the domain to the APC. However, the frosty relationship led to Aregbesola’s sack from the APC recently leading to fears that he would puncture the success of the party in future elections.
“Aregbesola currently has the local government chairmen in all the councils in Alimosho and you know that Alimosho is the biggest part of Lagos West. Even after his expulsion from the party, he has continued to make inroads into other areas of Lagos West through his Mandate Group.
Obasa, on the other hand, has been making efforts to take over the district from Aregbesola. He started the battle while trying to contest for Senate during the 2023 election just before he was asked to return to the House of Assembly. However, it has been very difficult for him.
“After the election, he started his own faction of The Mandate Movement to wrestle power from Aregbesola and to create a formidable structure for himself ahead of a possible governorship election in 2027. He already concluded that he was better positioned for the seat from Lagos West hoping that it would be zoned to the area. He won Asiwaju’s heart by arguing that Lagos West will fall into the hands of the President’s political enemies if he is not allowed a place of importance. And with this, he was able to buy Tinubu’s attention,” our source said.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION
With the local government elections in Lagos fast approaching and the President now in Abuja, there has been palpable fear about the outcome. The President, it was learnt, was not ready to see a crisis-ridden party going into the election. Ordinarily, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state is currently in disarray. However, the Labour Party is evolving and currently building a block. The Social Democratic Party, which recently had new entrants from the APC has also become a course of study.
Aregbesola’s loyalists in the APC are said to be watching keenly his body language. The former Governor of Osun currently has over 90 percent of the political structure in Alimosho alone.
“Let me tell you. The senator representing Lagos West is not strong even though she was deputy governor at a time. Governor Sanwo-Olu can withstand political adversaries using his financial muscles, but there is a concern that he could refuse to play roles that would ensure the success of the APC during the election. This is his second and last term and you know that the outcome of the election also has a way of influencing the general elections. That was another reason the President settled for Obasa.
Furthermore, the leadership of the party has always tried to use the legislative arm to cbeckmate the executive. The President doesn’t want a new person as Speaker especially as Governor Sanwo-Olu tenure is about to start winding down.
ANGER IN LAGOS APC
It is learnt that despite the President’s mediation, the lawmakers continue to distance themselves from the Speaker. “We held a parliamentary session on Monday where the Speaker continued to plead with us to forgive him. We currently doubt every of his move. The staff are also disillusioned since his return. Nobody is truly associating with him except two or three of our colleagues,” a lawmaker told this medium.
Within the GAC, a central advisory body in the state, there is division. Some of the members are concerned that the way the tussle went has given an impression of the body’s powerlessness. For example, it was gathered that not all the GAC members attended the recent Ramadan lecture organised by the party in the state recently. The Speaker, who was a special guest at the event, did not also attend.
CASE STILL IN LAW COURT
Despite reports that President Tinubu instructed that the legal matter the Speaker instituted in court be withdrawn, the case has continued.
The Speaker is contesting his removal from office by his colleagues. He continues to describe his removal as illegal saying the House Rules were not followed.
The matter came up in court on Monday again and to the surprise of many including journalists detailed to cover the hearing, the matter was adjourned with the reserving judgement.
“It is part of what we do not understand. He is battling us in court and coming to apologise and appeal for forgiveness. Does that sound like there is any change?
“We have been pressured to drop our decision and action. But our nerves are still frayed and it will be difficult for us all to return to how it used to be,” a ranking member said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
– Source: Huhuonline.com
