Mudashiru Obasa has approached the court for his reinstatement as the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA).
Obasa asked the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja to immediately reinstate him as the head of the state’s parliament, according to court filings seen on Friday.
The February 14, 2025, filing said Obasa was wrongly removed as Lagos Speaker on January 13, 2025.
He joined the current Speaker Lasbat Mojisola Meranda and the parliament as defendants.
The suit came after political meetings to resolve the crisis fell through. The meetings had held for several weeks between Lagos and Abuja among politicians loyal to President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu himself had said lawmakers should return Obasa to office, but the crisis has lingered as colleagues feared the impeached leader might target them in retribution.
The leadership crisis in the Lagos State Assembly has taken a new twist, as the impeached Speaker has approached the court for his reinstatement.
Obasa filed a lawsuit at the Lagos State High Court, demanding his immediate reinstatement as the head of the state’s parliament, according to court filings seen by The Gazette on Friday.
The February 12, 2025, filing “concerns the interpretation of Section 36; 90(2)(c); 101 and 311 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) vis-à-vis Order V Rule 18(2) and Order II Rule 9(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii) of the Rules and Standing Orders of the Lagos State House of Assembly (which enjoys constitutional flavour and status).”
Obasa challenged the constitutionality of the January 13, 2025, plenary session where lawmakers orchestrated his impeachment, claiming the sitting was not authorised.
“The action challenged the sitting and proceedings of the Lagos State House of Assembly to sit during recess without reconvening the House or giving any other person powers to reconvene the House,” the court documents added.
Tinubu recently snubbed a meeting with members of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) for delaying his order mandating the reinstatement of Mr Obasa, insisting lawmakers should reinstate him.
However, lawmakers feared the impeached leader might target them in retribution.
A member of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) of the APC in Lagos, Muraina Akanbi Taiwo, stated that the moves to reinstate Obasa would be rejected, insisting that Tinubu is not God in the state.
TSJ
