Inside Atlanta suburban home where Mudashiru Obasa slept as Lagos Assembly Speaker, woke up as subdued floor member

PEOPLES GAZETTE

Mudashiru Obasa was impeached on Monday afternoon in what lawmakers said was an inevitable decision to scrimp the efficiency and integrity of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

The roll call said 32 out of 40 members voted to sack Mr Obasa following a motion raised by Femi Saheed (Kosofe II) and seconded by Aro Moshood Abiodun (Ikorodu II). Mojisola Lasbat Meranda (Apapa I) was subsequently voted in as Lagos House Speaker, the first woman to attain the position.

The lawmakers raised allegations ranging from corruption to abuse of office and intimidation, but the main prong of their complaint, which created the perfect storm that ended Mr Obasa’s nearly 10-year reign as Speaker, was a Peoples Gazette story on January 10 about how he drew 43.5 billion for backup vehicles for lawmakers.

Even though the breakdown showed N1.1 billion should go to each lawmaker in the 40-member House, some of them said they did not receive such benefits and promptly moved the fraud up on a list of their quibbles against the ousted leader,

The Gazette exposed similar corruption activities by Mr Obasa in 2020. The EFCC invited him for questioning but did not file charges at the time. After his removal, anti-graft sources told our reporters their investigation would resume in earnest.

Abiodun Tobun (Epe I) said the decision to remove Mr Obasa was “inevitable”, noting the lawmakers took a near-unanimous position to preserve the “integrity” of the House of Assembly and Lagos State.

Mr Obasa has resisted claims of wrongdoing made against him by his colleagues and other entities and insisted his wealth was legitimately earned.

When he was removed on Monday afternoon, after The Gazette’s story circulated among members, it was barely 6:00 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia. According to people familiar with his activities, Mr Obasa was relaxing in a family home after attending a conference of lawyers.

Mr Obasa purchased the residence in nearby Lawrenceville, Georgia, in May 2019 for $424,742, per property records seen by The Gazette.