An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Babatunde Bank-Anthony, has called on Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to speak up regarding the recent leadership tussle in the state’s House of Assembly.
Speaking on Channels Television’s today as monitored by thecolumn.ng Bank-Anthony stressed the need for the Lagos State governor to address the situation.
“I expect the governor as well to say something to this. He is the number one man in Lagos State. He cannot ignore what happened yesterday because that is the parliament that he reports to, that is the parliament that makes the law for the state he is governing,” Bank-Anthony said.
“The governor should speak up about this issue to the right quarters,” he argued.
His comments hours after the escalation of the Lagos State House of Assembly leadership tussle.
Security officials, including policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), had on Monday stormed the Assembly complex, preventing lawmakers from gaining access to the chambers.
They, however, gained access to the chambers after hours of tussling with Speaker Mojisola Meranda later presiding over the plenary session at the Alausa area of Lagos.
While observers have called on President Bola Tinubu to wade into the leadership tussle tearing the Assembly apart, the APC chieftain says the Nigerian leader should walk with caution.
Bank-Anthony said since political hierarchies exist in governance, President Tinubu may be cautious about making a statement about the crisis to avoid being seen as taking sides.
“26 years of democracy in Lagos, Nigeria right? Do you want to keep sucking your mothers breast at this age? Let us leave this man alone, he has a bigger headache,” the APC chieftain said, double-down on the need for Tinubu to focus more on addressing pressing national issues.
The crisis in the Lagos Assembly began when the lawmakers removed Mudashiru Obasa as their speaker over fraud allegations. They elected Meranda to replace the long-time lawmaker who represents the Agege I Constituency of the state.
Obasa had rejected his removal and is in court to challenge the decision, a move Bank-Anthony has faulted.
“If Obasa cannot come to the House as a member, let him resign after 20 years in the Assembly. Let him give somebody else a chance,” he said on the show.
Obasa, from Agege Constituency I, was first elected into the House in 2007. He served as a speaker in June 2015 before his removal in January 2025.
But on January 13, 2025, more than two-thirds of the 40-member Lagos State House of Assembly voted him out, electing Meranda as its first female speaker.
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