Chief Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), counsel for the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, refuted speculation that his principal will abandon the suit against former Speaker Mojisola Meranda and Assembly members.
In a telephone chat with The PUNCH, Fashanu stated that his team was awaiting the court’s decision on the subject and that there was no going back.
This is despite President Bola Tinubu’s recent intervention in resolving the Lagos Assembly leadership crisis, with sources claiming that part of the deal included Obasa withdrawing the complaint against his colleagues.
On March 17, 2025, Justice Yetunde Pinheiro of the Lagos State High Court, where the case is being heard, reserved judgement in Obasa’s lawsuit, which challenges the validity of the January 13, 2025 processes that resulted in his initial expulsion.
The court heard multiple preliminary objections from various lawyers representing the accused and stated that the date for delivering the judgement and findings would be informed to parties in due course.
“We are just waiting for the judgment. We don’t know when yet, the court said they will communicate it to us,” Fashanu said on Sunday.
Speaking on if Obasa was still consider withdrawing the suit, he said, “We have concluded. You’re twisting the hand of the clock back. We have concluded arguments; that one does not arise again. He’s not withdrawing, we have concluded.”
Otunba Henry Ajomale, a former chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State and a member of the Governance Advisory Council, stated on Saturday that he expected Obasa to withdraw the action soon following Tinubu’s intervention.
According to an internet source, the chieftain stated this during a conversation with media on the sidelines of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s award ceremony in Lagos on Saturday.
“Very soon, (at) the next sitting, you will see the difference,” he said.
“Somebody is aggrieved and he went to court. It is his right to go to court. And it is now our own duty since Mr. President intervened and rightly too because this is his own making.
“He will not allow it to create a bitter problem. And that is why he has to intervene. And everything is back to normal now.
“Now that he (Obasa) has been returned, I believe that the case will be withdrawn from court. In no time. Perhaps at the next sitting, you will see the difference,” Otunba Ajomale said.
Obasa adjourned the plenary indefinitely on March 3, 2025, when he was reelected as Speaker following the resignation of Meranda from the position.
The development came after Meranda’s 49-day reign as the first female Speaker of the Lagos Assembly, which was marked by a heated leadership crisis as Obasa, who had been deposed on January 13, continued to fight his way back to the Speaker’s Office.
The problem was later addressed by the APC’s national leadership, which persuaded parliamentarians to accept Obasa’s return.
On March 12, 2025, all 40 House members met with President Tinubu in Abuja, where the president addressed the MPs’ issues, particularly those between Obasa and Meranda.
The House has not held a session since March, indicating a break in the legislative branch’s operations.
When asked last Tuesday when the House will reconvene, the Clerk, Ottun Babatunde, stated that the Assembly would most likely meet after the Sallah break.
He said, “We adjourned sine die (indefinitely), but (we will) likely (resume) after Sallah by God’s grace.”
When asked further on what would be the focus of the House upon resumption, the clerk simply said, “We will resume our work. Our normal duty is what we are (going to be) doing.”
He insisted that the House committees were continuing working despite the break. “In fact, the committee’s actions are ongoing. “We only suspended plenary and went on break,” Ottun explained.
Around the same time, a source close to Obasa revealed that the Speaker had left the state to make the holy pilgrimage in Mecca.
