Following the reported withdrawal of the security aides of the current speaker of the house, Rt. Honourable Mojisola Meranda, the leadership battle in the Lagos State House of Assembly has taken a dramatic turn.

No end in sight for the leadership crisis. Obasa, who entered the state house of assembly with heavy security details and his supporters on Thursday, went into the legislative chambers to preside over the plenary session to further assert his position as the speaker of the house for the first time since he was removed on January 13th, 2025.

While the speaker of the house and the other 26 lawmakers boycotted the plenary session in a show of support for Honourable Meranda and to protest against Obasa’s forceful entrance into the complex, the embattled former speaker presided over a session that consisted of just four lawmakers.

Speaking after presiding over the session, Mudashiru Obasa, who spoke with journalists, insisted that he remains the speaker of the Lagos lawmakers, stating that he was never impeached as the head of the parliament as his removal was undemocratic.

“I have resumed, and I remain the Speaker of the Assembly, Obasa told reporters on the premises of the House. I have never been removed. Impeachment or removal is democratic and constitutional, but in doing that, you must follow due process. I am not against that. If I do that, then I am not democratic.”

However, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, Steven Ogundipe, one of the lawmakers who boycotted the Obasa-led plenary session, disagreed with his claim to the speakership, stating that the majority of the house has removed the former speaker, therefore his removal remains valid. “He was not elected as Speaker by his constituency. We endured his master-slave leadership for nearly a decade. Now, we’ve had enough, and we’re not backing down,” he stated.

The leadership feud among the Lagos lawmakers began when the lawmakers ousted one of the longest-serving speakers on the premise of allegations of gross misconduct and financial mismanagement while he was out of the country and replaced him with his deputy.

While his removal was believed to be politically motivated and sanctioned by different layers of the APC’s leadership in Lagos State, his impeachment has created a significant tussle in the state political landscape, as there have been observations among political analysts that Obasa’s impeachment has created a gap in the rotational in the state as both the current speaker and the state governor are from the same region.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to douse the crisis in the state, stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress have risen to the matter based on the directive of President Bola Tinubu. However, as it has become obvious that the majority of the lawmakers do not want the return of the impeached speaker, it is quite uncertain what woud be the outcome of the political drama in the state.