24 state Assembly Speakers impeached in 14 years

RIPPLES NIGERIA

Between 2011 and 2025, during the years Nigeria returned to a democratic system of governance since 1999, at least 24 state assemblies have impeached the House of Assembly speaker from his seat. According to several news reports analysed by Ripples Metrics, Lagos State recently joined the long list of states that reported impeachment.

On January 13, the Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, who has served as Speaker since his appointment in 2015, was impeached by the lawmakers during the plenary session in Alausa, Ikeja. 32 members of the House voted to impeach him over allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office.

The speaker was replaced by Mojisola Meranda who made history by becoming the first elected female Lagos Speaker. However, she also joins the list of five states that have had female speakers lead the House since 1999. These states are Benue, Anambra, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti. In Anambra, a female speaker led the House in three different years.

The impeachment, although the first reported in 2025, is coming eight months after the former Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Elvert Anyambem, was impeached by the lawmakers over multiple infractions, including gross financial misconduct and violations of the Cross River State Legislature Funds Management Laws of 2021.

Aside from Lagos and Cross River, other states that have documented impeachments are Ogun, Zamfara, Rivers, Gombe, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Borno, Plateau, Niger, Edo, Delta, Ekiti, Imo, Kastina, Ondo, Jigawa, Taraba, Kebbi, Kano, Bayelsa and Abia.

The trend over 26 years

2024: Last year, states like Cross River and Ogun reported impeachment in their House of Assemblies. 18 out of 26 members of the House impeached Speaker Olakunle Oluomo over allegations of gross misconduct, financial misappropriation, and other offences in Ogun State. This came after the impeached Speaker was arraigned in September 2022 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 11 charges, including conspiracy, forgery, theft, and money laundering.

Also, in February, Bilyaminu Moriki, the speaker of the Zamfara State assembly was impeached following a vote of no confidence by 18 out of 24 members.

2023: The Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Chinedum Orji, was impeached in May after 18 out of 24 members endorsed his removal. Similarly, in Rivers State, eight members of the State Assembly impeached Speaker Martins Amaewhule and his deputy, Dumle Maol. Edison Ehie, who had previously been removed as the House Leader, was appointed as the new Speaker.

2022: 17 out of 25 members of the assembly signed the impeachment of Gboyega Aribisogan, as the speaker of the house in Ekiti state.