Obasa: Tinubu’s Abuja meeting fails to calm Lagos Assembly impasse as crisis deepens – Newstrends
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Obasa: Tinubu’s Abuja meeting fails to calm Lagos Assembly impasse as crisis deepens

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Obasa: Tinubu’s Abuja meeting fails to calm Lagos Assembly impasse as crisis deepens

Despite President Bola Tinubu’s last Wednesday peace accord, brokered among two warring parties in the Lagos State House of Assembly, led by Mudashiru Obasa and Mojisola Meranda over speakership tussle, the development has failed to calm high tensions among lawmakers and stakeholders in the state.

Tinubu had, at the end of the meeting, directed aggrieved lawmakers to work with Obasa.

Obasa was ousted as Speaker on January 13, 2025 by about 35 of the 40 lawmakers over allegations of highhandedness, financial misappropriation, and despotic tendencies, among others, and was replaced by Meranda, who was his deputy before the impeachment.

The development generated a lot of conflict putting the House and Governance Advisory Council, GAC, the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, party faithful, supporters, in disarray. The crisis prompted President Tinubu to draft a high-powered committee made up of Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Olusegun Osoba, among others, to finally arrived at a truce.

The panel subsequently, convinced Meranda to resign her position as the Speaker of the House after a deal reportedly agreed upon by all stakeholders who have been mediating to ensure that the crisis was put to rest.

Speculation had it that all the parties agreed on a deal which was for Meranda to resign while Obasa would be returned as Speaker and after 48 hours, would also resign his position. The arrangement, it was learnt, was to pave the way for a new Speaker from Lagos West as demanded by the 34 aggrieved lawmakers.

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After the peace deal and Meranda’s resignation, Obasa was subsequently re-nominated for the position of speakership by one of his loyalists in the House, Noheem Adam, a lawmaker representing Eti-Osa 1 and seconded by his colleague, Nureni Akinsanya, representing Mushin 1.

Obasa’s expected resignation

However, Obasa’s attempts to win back the lost loyalty of the aggrieved members hit a brick wall when he called for a truce meeting, a day after he was reluctantly re-elected. The aggrieved lawmakers felt betrayed by his action as they expected him to also tender his resignation in tandem with the agreed structure for settling the Assembly crisis permanently. Obasa’s action opened a kind of cold war in the Assembly which is currently on indefinite recess.

Resignation not part of agreement

Meanwhile, the APC in Lagos has said that the issue of possible resignation by the Speaker was not included in the terms of settlement reached to end the leadership crisis.

The party’s spokesman in the state, Seye Oladejo, told Sunday Vanguard that he was not aware of such an arrangement in the terms of settlement during the negotiation period by the party.

“To the best of my knowledge there was no time the arrangement for Obasa to resign came up in the terms of settlement of the crisis.

“To me, all this struggle is all about instance, before any candidate would emerge there must have been sacrifice by others”, Oladejo stated.

Crisis deepens

The crisis worsened recently following fresh controversy trailing the purchase of alleged N5 billion vehicles for 40 lawmakers by the then Speaker, Meranda, and now deputy Speaker.

The feud between re-elected Speaker Obasa and his deputy has continued to divide the Assembly, setting the two parties on a collision course.

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According to reports, Meranda, who presided over the legislative arm for 49 days, purportedly led the purchase of about 39 vehicles for the lawmakers during the period Obasa was removed.

It was learnt that Obasa had in December 2024 approved N7 billion for the same purpose of the vehicles before he was ousted on January 13, 2025.

The crisis further snowballed as Obasa dragged Meranda, 33 Lawmakers and the Assembly to the state High Court, challenging the basis for his removal and other allegations. Amid the legal battle is the contention between the duo over the purchase of the vehicles with money withdrawn from the assembly’s account.

A source who preferred anonymity told Sunday Vanguard that Obasa was contending the purchase of the vehicles without his authorisation as the Speaker and already had his plan of purchasing the vehicles from Dubai having contacted a bidder for the contract.

“He had approved the money before his removal. But Meranda proceeded with buying them, a move that infuriated Obasa,” an aide to Obasa who preferred anonymity confided in our reporter.

When contacted, Meranda’s Spokesperson, Victor Ganzallo, declined to make a comment, promising that an official statement would be issued in due course.

Also, a source loyal to Meranda stated that the first female Speaker only saved N2 billion by purchasing 32 units of 2025 Toyota Prado Sport Utility Vehicle, SUV and seven units of Toyota Landcruiser 2025 at the sum of N5 billion, rather than the N7 billion budgeted by Obasa.

“Unlike Obasa who had planned to import the vehicles from Dubai, all the cars were locally supplied. It is imperative to note that no money was withdrawn by Meranda, she only reviewed an existing approval.
“Interestingly, Meranda spent far less money to acquire better quality cars and didn’t even approve a single one for the office of the Speaker that she occupied,” the source stated.

Obasa’s resignation

A Lagos pro-indigeneship group, De-Renaissance Patriots Foundation, has urged Obasa to step down in the interest of democracy and the rule of law.

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The call was contained in a statement by the elders of the group, as a rejoinder to a recent statement by Dr. Muiz Banire, SAN, APC chieftain on the State Assembly crisis and intervention by Chief Bisi Akande-led peace committee.

Our position

“While we acknowledge and commend Dr Muiz Banire, SAN, for his willingness to weigh in on the crisis, we must, however, respectfully correct certain misrepresentations in his submission.

“Banire asserted that Chief Akande and Aremo Osoba were not “busybodies” but were rather invited by Lagos political stakeholders within the ineffectual GAC. However, we must emphasize that their intervention ultimately undermined the democratic aspirations of the Indigenous people of Lagos State,
“The decision to reinstate Speaker Mudashiru Obasa at the expense of Mojisola Meranda, an indigene, effectively disregarded the will of Lagosians from Epe, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos, and Ikorodu divisions, who had overwhelmingly supported Meranda. The intervention of these external figures, therefore, dashed the hopes of Lagos indigenes and will be remembered in history as a betrayal of democratic principles.

“The most honourable course of action for Obasa is to step down in the interest of democracy and the rule of law. Having lost his grip on the Assembly, his continued leadership, enforced by external political forces, constitutes a threat to democratic integrity.”

In a similar incident, a pro-Lagos development group, Agenda for New Lagos, ANL, has raised the alarm over plans to use the court to invalidate Obasa’s impeachment as the Lagos State speaker.

In a statement by its Protem Chairman, Kamal Olorunnisola, the group alleged that the court judgment to make this happen has already been written and will be delivered after hearing the case instituted by Obasa in the heat of his impeachment saga. “Many of the Assembly members were tricked into accepting that Obasa would subsequently resign after Meranda. But unknown to them, it was just a political gimmick. As soon as he was ‘re-elected’ out of damage control, he adjourned indefinitely, obviously awaiting judgment in the case instituted to legitimise the illegalities.

“That explains why, contrary to the pledge to withdraw his case, it continued. They already have the judgment written invalidating the proceedings that removed him. All machinery has been put in place towards railroading the judge.

“Upon given the judgment, obviously wrong in law, Obasa will direct no appeal on behalf of the Assembly while Meranda is already out of the way.

“The import is that he had never been removed while Meranda was never a speaker. The further implication is that the removed clerk will equally return contrary to the resistance of his colleagues, as of right as no valid proceeding would have removed him.”

 

Obasa: Tinubu’s Abuja meeting fails to calm Lagos Assembly impasse as crisis deepens

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AKAMARA host retracts “ihram for fetish claims”, says conversations staged

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39 minutes ago

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April 27, 2025

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AKAMARA host retracts “ihram for fetish claims”, says conversations staged

 

… as Muslim scholars warn against anti-Islamic contents

 

* It’s unfortunate, example of disinformation: Media expert

 

A veteran broadcaster and anchor of the controversial radio programme AKAMARA, Mr. Ibrahim Adesola (popularly known as Akamara), has retracted all the allegations made regarding the use of ihram (pilgrims garment) allegedly for rituals or diabolical means, saying that all the purported phone calls during the conversations were STAGED!

 

Akamara made the retractions in a video recorded during an urgent meeting convened by the Wakeelul Muslimeen of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta, Sheikh Iskeel Lawal Sugar, on Saturday, 26th April to address the topic which has sparked uproar among the Nigerian Muslim community.

 

Held in his office, the meeting was attended by stakeholders from Yewa Land, Owode Idiroko as well as journalists and lawyers.

 

Also in attendance was a representative of the President of League of Imams and Alfas in Ogun State, The Chief Imam of Owode Yewa, The Ad-hoc Chairman of Ogun State Muslims Pilgrims Board, Sheikh Ishaq Olorungbebe, Sheikh Fasasi Akeukanwo among others.

 

In a statement issued on Sunday, 27th April 2025 by Alhaji Lawal Abu Mordiyah, the Administrative Officer at the Office of Wakeelul Muslimeen of Yorubaland, the scholars warned bloggers like the host of Akamara who are attempting to use Islam or Islamic content to trend on social media for quick money to desist or be ready to face prosecution and risk going to jail.

 

The stakeholders, however, urged Muslims across the world to overlook and forgive the misdemeanor of Mr Ibrahim Adesola and continue to be good Muslims that they are.

 

The Beginning

 

Muslim News Nigeria gathered that a man, who identified himself as Najeem Ajisafe appeared on the radio programme alleging that one Alhaji Lukman Owokomago from Owode Onirin was sponsoring people of the area to Hajj only to collect their Ihram (hajj garment) after returning from hajj, supposedly for ritual.

 

The man, in a recorded viral audio, especially on Tiktok, claimed that when it was the turn of his father, Sulaiman Ajisafe, who went for the 2024 hajj under the sponsorship of Alhaji Owokomago, he decided to buy another cloth to give him instead of the one he allegedly used for hajj.

 

“To my father’s surprise, Alhaji Owokomago was able to tell that it wasn’t the original cloth and insisted that he wanted the original cloth used to perform hajj”, the man narrated the incident to the host of Akamara, promising him to release the suspect’s phone number to hear his own side of the story.

 

Follow-up story

 

In a bid to confirm the authenticity of the claim, the Akamara host brought the accused person Alhaji Owokomago to his programme, allegedly through a phone conversation, who confirmed the story, adding that the demand for Ihram was part of their agreement before the trip and it was his right to collect it.

 

“I have a right to demand the Ihram from them. In fact, it was part of the agreement before I sponsored them for Hajj. ₦10m per person isn’t small money. I sponsored five people. I must collect the Ihram. If I didn’t collect it before the next hajj, one soul will give up for another”, Alhaji Owokomago threatened the host of Akamara during their heated conversation.

 

Investigation leads to the truth

 

The audio clip has since sparked uproar on social media with many Islamophobes attacking Islam and hajj institutions, questioning the intentions of many philanthropists who sponsor underprivileged Nigerians to hajj.

 

But as the news got to the Office of Wakeelul Muslimeen of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta, he invited the host of Akamara to his office on Saturday, 26th April 2025 where it was revealed that the whole episode was STAGED!

 

Mr Adesola fondly called Akamara told the leadership of the community who attended the meeting that the story was a hoax, and a fiction, saying all the people involved in the audio recordings, including Owokomago and Ajisafe with his son, Najeem, do not exist in reality. It was all engineered and stage-managed by the host of Akamara himself.

 

In a recorded video shared on the official social media handle of the Wakeelul Muslimeen of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta, the host of Akamara has been mandated to do a two-minute retraction audio to explain what really happened. He was also mandated to dedicate his next radio programme to admit the story was STAGED, which he agreed to.

 

Despite the widespread backlash, the scholars urged Muslims worldwide to forgive the veteran broadcaster for his actions and continue to practice Islam with integrity and righteousness.

 

It’s unfortunate, example of disinformation: Media expert

 

The controversy surrounding Akamara’s staged broadcast drew sharp criticism from notable Nigerians, including Dr. Jamiu Folarin, a varsity lecturer, journalist and fact-checker.

 

Dr. Folarin described the incident as a prime example of disinformation, calling out content creators who prioritize monetary gain over ethical reporting.

 

“It is one thing to make a mistake, but it is entirely another to deliberately fabricate a story for financial profit,” said Dr. Folarin.

 

“What Ibrahim Adesola did – scripting a live broadcast involving false characters and events – is a high level of unprofessionalism. In a more regulated environment, such broadcasters would likely face severe penalties, including having their licenses revoked.”

 

Dr. Folarin also reiterated the urgent need for better regulation of content creation, especially concerning social media and the growing trend of skits, pranks, and satire that often mislead the public. “We must implement proper training for content creators, label satirical content clearly, and invest in media literacy programmes to prevent the spread of disinformation,” he emphasized.

 

The AKAMARA incident highlights the growing need for ethical conduct in media, especially at a time when misinformation and disinformation can easily spread across platforms.

 

As for Akamara, he has been given a chance to make amends and restore his credibility by publicly admitting his mistake and re-aligning his future broadcasts with the values of truth and responsibility.

 

AKAMARA host retracts “ihram for fetish claims”, says conversations staged

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Police arrest 16-year-old boy with gun in Lagos

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2 hours ago

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April 27, 2025

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Police arrest 16-year-old boy with gun in Lagos

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 16-year-old boy, Solomon Ibiwoye, after he was found in possession of a firearm in the Ebute-Ero area of the state.

Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, announced the arrest in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, praising alert residents for their role in the incident.

“Kudos to observant Lagosians who noticed 16-year-old Solomon Ibiwoye with a firearm and discreetly alerted Ebute-Ero Police Division,” Hundeyin wrote.

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According to Hundeyin, a subsequent search of the teenager’s home led to the recovery of a locally made firearm and an unexpended cartridge.

“One more firearm off the streets,” he added, assuring that investigations into the case are ongoing.

Hundeyin further emphasized the importance of community vigilance in helping to curb crime, urging residents, “See something, say something!”

While the police spokesperson did not reveal how the teenager came into possession of the weapon or whether he is connected to any criminal gang, he assured the public that a thorough investigation is underway.

 

Police arrest 16-year-old boy with gun in Lagos

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Tinubu tried to silence me with EFCC – Ex-NHIS boss Yusuf

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3 hours ago

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April 27, 2025

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Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf

Tinubu tried to silence me with EFCC – Ex-NHIS boss Yusuf

Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of weaponising the EFCC to silence him, alleging he was treated like a criminal for criticising the government.

Speaking in an interview with Arise Television on Sunday, Yusuf alleged that his recent detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was part of a deliberate attempt to silence him. “This government deliberately denied me bail to shake me up… all to try and silence me. But I am not someone who can be silenced,” he said.

In February, the EFCC arraigned Yusuf before the Federal Capital Territory High Court on a five-count charge of alleged fraud. He pleaded not guilty.

Recounting the events that led to his detention, Yusuf said EFCC operatives stormed his home on 29 January without presenting an arrest warrant. “They walked into the house and said they wanted to see me, claiming I was expecting them. They only later showed their badges,” he said.

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He described how the operatives prevented him from changing clothes and blocked his wife from providing him with alternative clothing. Yusuf also recounted how, during transport, officers treated him “as if they had captured a notorious criminal like Kachalla Bello Turji,” a notorious bandit leader.

Yusuf spent six days in EFCC custody before his arraignment and was subsequently denied bail, a move he said was unconstitutional. “Bail is a constitutionally guaranteed right for any accused person, except in cases of capital offences or terrorism, and my case was neither,” he said.

The denial of bail forced Yusuf to spend an additional 24 days at Kuje Prison. He characterised his imprisonment as a period of “retreat for rest, prayers, and reflection,” insisting it only strengthened his spirit.

“The whole purpose was for the government of President Bola Tinubu to try to silence any form of dissent,” Yusuf said. “This is coming from a president who himself was once a NADECO activist — someone who fought against the military dictatorship.”

He warned that the current administration is attempting to stifle democratic criticism and create a “one-party dictatorial state.”

Yusuf was appointed executive secretary of the NHIS in 2016 by former President Muhammadu Buhari. He was suspended in 2017 and again in 2018 by the health minister and the NHIS board over allegations of corruption, and was eventually removed from office in 2019.

Tinubu tried to silence me with EFCC – Ex-NHIS boss Yusuf

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