The Chairman of the Governance Advisory Council in Lagos State and a leader of the All Progressives Congress, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, has stated that the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly do not have the exclusive authority to install or remove the leadership of the assembly.
Olusi made this assertion while speaking to journalists on Saturday, highlighting that the power to remove or install a speaker is not solely vested in the lawmakers.
“Members of the GAC are not members of the Lagos State House of Assembly to allegedly be behind the removal of Obasa. It can’t be true,” Olusi said. He explained that the lawmakers had acted without consulting the party or the GAC when they made the decision to remove the speaker. “We read it also that morning. The lawmakers carried it out without consulting the party and those of us in the GAC. That is our position,” he added.
Olusi further clarified that the GAC had invited all the lawmakers to discuss their grievances. “We invited all of them and insisted that all of them are products of the party. They lodged their complaints and we listened to them,” he said. He also expressed disappointment that the lawmakers had not raised their concerns with the party sooner. “I blamed them for one thing and that is for not lodging the complaints earlier before the party. It is for the party to decide, they (lawmakers) have no absolute power to remove and install their leaders,” Olusi emphasized.
He reiterated the importance of political party sponsorship in securing a position in the House of Assembly, stating, “Nobody can become a member of the House of Assembly unless sponsored by a political party and the sponsors are the inspectors.”
The leadership dispute in the Lagos State House of Assembly has resulted in both Obasa and Meranda now claiming the Speakership, further intensifying the impasse.
Olusi acknowledged that internal conflicts, particularly between Speaker Obasa and his colleagues, had contributed to the speaker’s removal. “The problem is the speaker (Obasa) and his colleagues which had led to his removal. It is a dispute among them,” he explained.
He revealed that a high-powered committee led by Chief Bisi Akande, with notable members including Aremo Olusegun Osoba and former APC National Vice Chairman, South-west, Chief Pius Akinyelure, is working to resolve the crisis. “They are working and making efforts to resolve the matter. I know they are in consultation with the House of Assembly, Obasa and the other Speaker, Mrs. Mojisola Lasbat Meranda,” Olusi said.
Olusi concluded by stressing that both the GAC and the APC Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, are doing everything possible to support the committee’s efforts to settle the leadership dispute and restore order within the Assembly.
