A mild drama ensued on Friday at the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja when two lawyers laid claim to being the official counsel for the Lagos State House of Assembly during the hearing of a suit filed by Mudashiru Obasa, challenging his removal as Speaker of the Assembly.
Obasa, in suit number ID/9047GCM/2025 filed before Justice Yetunde Pinheiro, is contesting the constitutionality of the House’s sitting and proceedings during a recess, which occurred without the Speaker reconvening the House or delegating the authority to someone else.
Obasa’s lawyer, Chief Afolabi Fashanu, filed the suit on his behalf.
The case stems from the legality of the House of Assembly’s sitting and proceedings on January 13, 2025, during which Obasa was allegedly impeached as Speaker.
Obasa’s application is based on nine grounds, including the interpretation of various sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), as well as the Rules and Standing Orders of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
He is seeking the court’s interpretation of Sections 36, 90, 92(2)(c), 101, and 311 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) about Order V, Rule 18(2), and Order II, Rule 9 (1) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii), (viii) of the Lagos State House of Assembly Rules and Standing Orders, which hold constitutional status.
When the matter was called, Fashanu, appeared for Obasa, while Mr. Femi Falana, appeared for the first defendant (the Lagos State House of Assembly), Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, represented Mojosola Meranda (the current Speaker of the Assembly), and Mr. Olu Daramola, represented parties seeking to be joined in the suit.
However, a mild confrontation occurred when another counsel, Abang Mkpandiok, stood up to challenge Falana’s representation of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Mkpandiok claimed that he had been briefed the previous night by the Assembly and had filed a motion for a change of counsel that morning.
He argued that the right to choose one’s counsel is a fundamental human right and asked the court to address his application first.
Mkpandiok told the court that his law firm had been briefed just the day before to represent the House of Assembly in the suit, and he had filed the necessary documents, although they had not yet been served to the parties.
In a motion brought under Order 52, Rules 2 and 3 of the Lagos State High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019, Mkpandiok sought permission from the court to replace Femi Falana of Falana & Falana Chambers with himself, Abang Mkpandiok, of Atlantic Law Firm, as the official counsel on record.
Falana objected, stating that he had not been served with the application and remained the counsel on record for the Assembly.
Falana maintained that he was still the authorised lawyer for the first defendant and had not been informed of any decision to change counsel.
Oyetibo also pointed out that he had not been served with the application.
Mkpandiok then chose to serve the application to the other counsel in court.
After reviewing the court’s records, Justice Pinheiro noted that the application for a change of counsel was not yet ready for hearing.
The court remarked, “As counsel himself has admitted, that application has not been served on all parties. I will defer it pending compliance with the rules of court.”
The court also ruled that the application for expedited hearing would not be addressed today.
During the proceedings, Daramola informed the court of a Motion on Notice filed by 33 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, who sought to be joined as parties in the suit.
The lawmakers filed the motion under Section 361 of the Constitution and Order 15, Rules 4(1) & 16(3), and Order 43, Rule 1 of the Lagos State High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019.
The motion sought two main reliefs: an order to add the individuals seeking to be co-defendants and an order compelling the claimant to amend the originating and other processes to include their names as defendants.
The applicants are members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, elected to represent various wards and constituencies in Lagos State.
However, Justice Pinheiro has fixed March 7, 2025, for the hearing of all pending applications.
After the proceedings, Meranda, while speaking to journalists, denied that she had resigned.
She also condemned the invasion of the house on Thursday by the removed Speaker, Obasa.
Regarding her security detail, Meranda told journalists that although she was entitled to 12 police officers and four Department of State Security Service operatives, she had only been assigned four police officers so far.
The PUNCH
