It was a game of musical chairs at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday when the legislators impeached Mudashiru Obasa as their speaker for alleged gross misconduct, financial mismanagement, and abuse of office and replaced him with the deputy speaker, Mrs. Mojisola Meranda. She emerged as the first female to hold that office
It was a game of musical chairs at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday when the legislators impeached Mudashiru Obasa as their speaker for alleged gross misconduct, financial mismanagement, and abuse of office and replaced him with the deputy speaker, Mrs. Mojisola Meranda. She emerged as the first female to hold that office after seven men since 1979.
Obasa’s removal was like a “democratic coup” plotted and executed while the incumbent was out of the country. State lawmakers impeached him at their plenary session on Monday, January 13, 2025. He’s a sixth-term member of the Assembly representing Agege Constituency 1 and has been Speaker since 2015.
Rt. Hon Mudashiru Obasa’s removal from office, though premised on allegations of gross misconduct and financial mismanagement, was believed to be politically motivated and sanctioned by different layers of the APC’s leadership in Lagos State.
Before his removal, there were speculations that Rt Hon Obasa might want to contest as the next governor of the state in 2027, a rumour he did not deny. Mr Obasa did not even hesitate to acknowledge the speculation in the presence of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during the presentation of the 2025 budget to the lawmakers in December 2024, where he boastfully revered himself as a worthy candidate who can go head to head with the current and past governments, claiming they were not better than him.
Moreover, the impeached speaker was on the news when Governor Sanwo-Olu was planning to appoint his commissioners as the second-term governor. The House of Assembly faced criticism after rejecting 17 out of 39 commissioner nominees submitted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while Mr Obasa was perceived to be playing an antagonist card with the governor.
While the reason for his removal did not address any of Obasa’s existing issues, members of the state house of assembly accused him of poor leadership, arrogance, and disregard for members, according to Femi Saheed, who moved the motion. He represents the Kosofe constituency.
Replacing Obasa as the speaker of the house, the Lagos lawmakers elected and swore in Hon. Mojisola Meranda, the deputy speaker and the honourable representing Apapa Constituency 1, as the first female speaker in the history of the state. The lawmakers also elected Mojeed Fatai, a lawmaker representing Ibeju Lekki Constituency I, as the new deputy speaker.
Mrs Mojisola Meranda was first elected to the state House of Assembly in 2015, and she has once chaired the House Committee on Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA). She also chaired the House Committee on Establishment, Training, Pension, and Public Service.
Before joining the state house of assembly, Mrs Meranda worked in Apapa Local Government as the senior special assistant for intervention and intergovernmental relations. She later held the position of supervisor for health in the same local government.
She graduated from NIIT with a certificate in software development (network engineering) and Lagos State University (LASU) in 2013 with a B.Sc. in Public Administration. Later, in 2020, she graduated from the University of Lagos with a Master of Public and International Affairs (MPIA).
She founded Worthline International Services Limited and was its managing director and CEO. She also worked as the office manager of Cirrus Nigeria Limited in Lekki, Lagos.
Her political career began as a me of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), which later became the Action Congress (AC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and, eventually, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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