Obasa risks suspension for parading as Lagos Speaker — APC chieftain

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and former chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Commission, Wale Mogaji, has revealed that the impeached speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, risks suspension from the House if he continues to parade himself as the speaker.

Mogaji stated this while speaking with newsmen in Ikeja on Monday.

Obasa had, on Saturday, faulted his impeachment, claiming that he remains the speaker until the proper procedure is followed to remove him.

The former chairman of the Lagos Assembly Commission noted that the ex-speaker’s comments undermined the authority of the Assembly, which had legitimately impeached him.

Mogaji said, “He needs to understand that he is not an elected executive. You cannot compare yourself with an elected governor. That is why your removal as speaker does not stop you from being a member of the parliament.”

“They can only remove you from the House if you commit another offence. For you to now have the effrontery to go out and challenge the authority of the parliament and claim that you are still the speaker is another matter. He could be indicted, suspended, and banned for it, and once you are banned, you cannot even attend sittings.”

Mogaji also criticised Obasa’s claim that his impeachment did not follow due process, emphasising that Obasa himself had a record of disregarding due process.

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“My removal as chairman of the Assembly Commission was because Obasa felt I was closer to his predecessor, Ikuforiji. After I was sacked, I approached the National Industrial Court, which ruled that the status quo be maintained, but he refused to obey the court order.

“Not just me, there was a time when the principal officers of the House were removed for no just reason because he suspected they had ambitions to become the speaker. Now that it has happened to him, he should also lick his wounds and bear it like that,” Mogaji said.

He urged the new speaker to learn from Obasa’s mistakes.