The leadership crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly escalated further on Wednesday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa dismissed reports alleging the discovery of a “cache of arms” in his office.
Similarly, Speaker Mojisola Meranda refuted claims of her resignation, while the Assembly also debunked rumors that 27 lawmakers were planning to defect to the Labour Party (LP).
Obasa Denounces Arms Cache Allegations
In a personally signed statement, Obasa described the report as “lies from the pit of hell” and blamed his “traducers” for spreading falsehoods to tarnish his reputation. This comes just two days after operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were deployed to the Assembly complex amid ongoing turmoil over the leadership of Meranda.
Obasa, who is challenging his impeachment, dismissed the claim that the DSS uncovered arms in his office as a “hatchet but lazy journalistic story.”
“The ill-conceived story, apart from being a complete concoction, exposes its author and paymasters as malicious individuals with low intelligence, only out to malign my hard-earned reputation spanning decades of political leadership and legislative hard work,” he said.
He also criticized the report’s reliance on “phantom sources” and likened the claims to “calling a dog a bad name just to hang it.”
“This so-called discovery is nothing but an afterthought, a desperate attempt to justify illegal actions. Their fabricated narrative is as illogical and baseless as the planted camera at the Lekki Toll Gate weeks after the EndSARS protests.”
Obasa further alleged that his opponents had continuously spread “unverifiable lies,” including claims that he spent ₦16 billion on a gate and ₦40 billion on a single Toyota Hilux truck.
Assembly Denies Speaker’s Resignation and Lawmakers’ Defection
Meanwhile, the Assembly has strongly rejected reports of Speaker Meranda’s resignation and the rumored defection of lawmakers.
Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Strategy, and Security, Ogundipe Stephen, dismissed the claims as “malicious and baseless,” stating that they were meant to create division and confusion among Lagosians.
“These events in no way suggest any intention by members to leave the party. We emphasize, without any ambiguity, that no member of the Assembly is contemplating defection,” he stated.
