NewStats: 3,264,496 , 8,183,895 topics. Date: Wednesday, 11 June 2025 at 10:26 AM 28661j

Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa had his eyes on the governorship seat of Lagos when his colleagues booted him out of office on Monday.

Reports on Obasa’s interest in the coveted seat were discarded as mere rumour in some quarters, but the message became clearer after the Archbishop of Methodist Church Nigeria (Lagos), Most Rev. Isaac Ayo Olawuyi, indirectly drummed up for the three-term speaker during the Lagos House of Assembly’s 22nd Annual Thanksgiving Service.

At the event which the former Speaker attended, Olawuyi had said in the interest of religious tolerance, Lagosians should elect a Muslim as governor in 2027.

“I also want to add that we have consideration for religious inclination in Lagos State. It would be 12 years in 2027 that we have been in the system together and we have been having Christians as governors. Now, it’s time to give our Muslim brothers a chance to govern us in Lagos State. We want to pray that when it’s time for the election, it would be a time for us to elect who will govern us in Lagos State effectively,” the Archbishop had said.

He went further to praise the former Speaker for his leadership and collaboration with the other arms of government, saying these have kept the state strong.

“You have been a true and sensitive leader with a big heart. You have proved yourself worthy. We pray that God will continue to use you to make us smile in Lagos and also grant you your heart desires,” he said.

After that event, the campaign for Obasa regained momentum while the former Speaker carried on with glee. However, he was impeached on Monday, about a month after that endorsement. For a man who lasted that long in a slippery political environment, how did such fate befall him? How did his adversaries get him?

According to reports, Obasa’s travail began after the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos reported him to President Bola Tinubu.

Putting it mildly, a chieftain of the ruling party who spoke off the record said, “The seemingly insurmountable walls around him started crumbling during the End-of-The Year break. His fate was sealed after our elders visited the president. That meeting nailed his political coffin.”

During the visit, insiders said top on the agenda of the GAC was the cold war between Obasa and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Although Sanwo-Olu and Obasa have had a running battle, the matter came to a head during the 2025 budget presentation.

Obasa stoked controversy when he declared that he was not too young or lacked experience to run for Lagos governor.

He had said, “I am not too young or lacking experience to run. Those who have been before me are not better off… I have made it a personal task to mobilize people on the platform of Mandate, which some political detractors have misconstrued as being a selfish aspiration on the ground for me to become governor of the state.”

Making such remark on live TV and right in the presence of Sanwo-Olu had drawn the ire of the party leadership in the state and they waited for a ripe time to tender their grievances before their leader.

The chairman of GAC, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, was said to have started the discussion by reminding the president of how highly the governor’s office was when he governed between 1999 and 2007.

He reportedly told the president how disrespectful Obasa had been to Sanwo-Olu, citing several instances. Tinubu was said to have openly lashed the former speaker for not just disrespecting the governor but also the GAC and party elders.

Since that moment, the forces against Obasa restrategised and his colleagues who had collectively at random got him into the record books as one of the longest speakers in the country, finally turned the page on his enviable political career.

Below are some of the controversies of the politician who was elected into the hallowed chamber while serving as councillor in Agege local government area of the state.


Move to scrap LCDAs

One of the issues which sparked controversy under Obasa was the move by the House under his leadership to abolish the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) created when Tinubu was governor.

After the Supreme Court granted autonomy to the 774 local governments in Nigeria, the Lagos House introduced a bill to scrap the LCDAs and replace them with newly designated istrative areas.

The bill titled “Bill for a law to provide for the local governments’ system, establishment, and istration, and to consolidate all laws on local government istration”, sought to recognise 20 LGAs in the state as outlined in the 1999 constitution.

Kicking against it, Sunday Ojelabi, Chairman of APC in Lagos, had said, “Our position as a progressive party is that we cannot discountenance the contributions of the LCDAs to the overall political and socio-economic development of the state.

“Our landscape is dotted by several infrastructural projects by the LCDAs which include road, drainage and market construction, school and housing projects, primary education and health facilities and various social service interventions etc. The various collaborative efforts with the state government on refuse disposal, drain clearing and security are also pointers to their continuous relevance.”


Rejecting Sanwo-Olu’s commissioners

In 2023, Obasa was involved in another controversy over the row between him and Sanwo-Olu on the confirmation of commissioners. The House under his leadership allegedly refused to clear close to half (17) of the 39 commissioner nominees recommended by the governor.

Among those rejected were six persons who served in the cabinet of Sanwo-Olu during his first term. The noise from that drama reverberated across the country warranting the GAC to meet with both parties in search for a truce.

While reacting to the criticisms that trailed the decision of the House, Obasa had said there is no fight between the lawmakers and the governor adding that “but we have constitutional rights to say yes or no to his nominees”.

The statement was seen as a daring one to the leaders of the party in the state and overbearing on his alleged political ambition.


‘Operating multiple s’

In a series of investigative pieces in 2020, Whistleblowing platform, SaharaReporters said it traced multiple s to the Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the former speaker. According to the platform, the s ed with various names were being used to siphon public funds.

“At least 64 bank s have been discovered to be linked to Obasa ed with various names allegedly used to siphon public funds in Lagos. The BVN reveals that Obasa operates s with multiple names in Polaris Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa, First City Monument Bank and Wema Bank.

“To conceal his identity, the Speaker changed his name and date of birth in some of the s. Aside from using Ajayi Mudashiru Obasa, he also used Obasa Abdulrahman Gbadunola and Gabriel Adedoyin Savage to some of the bank s. Some of the companies linked to the BVN include Adesav International Ventures, Fabric Splash Ventures, Swifthi international ventures and Quick Solution International.

“Others are Quick solution International Ventures, White Honey Enterprises, Cream on Ice Services, A.B DELCO Nigeria Company, and Fabric Splash Ventures, Skye-Macosh Company, Swifthill International Ventures, Silver Section Global, Davedab Global Ventures and Jose-Macosh Company and De Kingrun,” the report read.

Whilst the smoke from that controversy was yet to settle, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited him for questioning, but he denied the allegations, blaming them on his political opponents.


N17bn Obasagate

A group, the Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, had alleged that the Assembly under Obasa’s leadership allocated N17 billion for the construction of a gate and called for an investigation into the matter.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the anti-corruption group petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the House leadership for awarding the gate contract.

Addressing the allegations during a plenary session, Obasa attributed the claims to political fears surrounding the 2027 elections, which remain over two years away.

“It is so funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in the whole year that we will decide to spend N17 billion on a gate? They even claimed that we expended 200 million on thanksgiving that did not hold.

“We are aware that at a period like this, when we are approaching elections in 2027, we should expect such things. I think some people are scared, and I don’t know why.

“This House did not and has not embarked on any such project. We are not that reckless. We had our thanksgiving last Friday, and dignitaries from various parts of the state attended it,” Obasa had said.

https://dailytrust.com/sins-that-cost-lagos-speaker-his-seat/

He wanted to be governor

"On your manhood we shall stand"

Believe me no reasonable Nigerian cares about the "sins" of miscreants except low breeds

He tried... Now, he can rest!

The LCDA scraping is actually a sensible thing to do since LGAs will receive allocations directly from the FG henceforth.

If it is not scrapped, how do the LCDAs get funding? The constitution recognizes only 20 LGAs in Lagos state.

He fell out with the powers that be and won't be the first Lagos House of assembly speaker to be impeached ...

Jokotola Pelumi was impeached to paved way for Mamora.

Forget all this , his Major sin was daring to challenge the valid ambition of Seyi Tinubu

Have they removed him,?

His only sin is that he wanted to be governor there by daring the Tinubu dynasty.

Thunder strikes the same place five times. He is not the first and won't be the last.

A sitting governor has been a victim, what more, a 'not-yet-seated' governor? 🌚

"Politics is generally dirty, but Nigerian politics is the dirtiest"

If not for tpain that cares only about his fist hold of lagos state, how could that clone be speaker in a state like lagos if not to serve tpain.

Speculations

I am not a Lagosian and I am not in Lagos, but one thing is a "banker" according to Punters, Sheyi can't be Lagos governor, if Tinubu tries that, he has seen Lagosians "finish" and it will stagger his legacy, structure and political dominance in the state.

Let these words be marked.

Na una sabi

Our SW brothers know how to turn anything into mob action.
Well I aint surprised with Lagos being established through thuggery.

SalamRushdie:
Forget all this , his Major sin was daring to challenge the valid ambition of Seyi Tinubu

Tinubu son wan be Gov?
Tinubu has really pocketed lagos oh

A game of thrones

Artscollection:
If not for tpain that cares only about his fist hold of lagos state, how could that clone be speaker in a state like lagos if not to serve tpain.

As in! In the first place he was not fit.
He now thinks he's the best. Person wey Dem dey manage

Ok
But that Rev is mad! What a very careless utterance.

Take a look at the nonesense system Nigeria is operating.

An unserious country that will continue to wallow in undervelopment, poverty and backwardness.


Instead of electing leaders based on merit and integrity, they are using religion. To crown it, its the Abrahamic religion that was forced on your ancestors you are using.


What a generation of fools!

The guy is highly corrupt

Na wa

Jhh

Good riddance....
If you listen to him most times, you'll think he's actually the governor .
Very arrogant and corrupt, all of them are anyway .

I care less about the ambitious Obasa.

I am looking at what the cleric said about religious tolerance.

This is the state that the IPOB and Obidients say Tinubu controls.
They call all Tinubu ers "yoruba Muslims"

They say everything is for his muslim brothers.

Yet he is married to a Pastor, not just a Christian.
His state now has had two Christian governors succeeding each other, I head Okunola is his best pick for the next governor and I think the young chap is a Christian.

The Jagaban is blind to religion.
I have said this before and I will continue to say this: The Christians are some of the biggest problems we have in this country....

My most trust worthy and loyal business partners are the northern muslims, those guys are honest to a fault.

Do business with a Christian especially a southern Christian, you will need to set aside money for police and court even before the business starts...

I can never buy dollar from a Christian BDC operator but I can close my eyes and buy from an Aboki.

Ojuntana:

You sound daft
Go and do business with Abacha, Gandollar or Dasuki
Muslims ruled Lagos for 16 years and Christians just did 12 years you dummy.
The obviously bought man advocating for Muslim rule is even a Christian
I guess the Christians are responsible for boko haram, banditry, lakurawa, child marriage, almajiri, low literacy, looting etc
Dumb Islamic bigot

Fiscus105:



I biliv you are talking from personal experience and experiences you gathered from parents, I will advise you to start, the clean up from your immediate family first.


By the way, run away from drug in 2025, it has eaten deep into your mental health.

These are the Christians I am talking about..
They had to start speaking with insults.
Very Christian of them and interestingly they are actually a the perfect example of the average Nigerian Christian....

You both ended up not saying nothing about what I said.
All you did was insult me.

FIRST RULE OF POWER

NEVER OUTSHINE YOUR MASTER !

Never outshine the master" is the first law of power (in The 48 Laws of Power). The law states that you should not over-display your talents or ambition in an attempt to impress or please or be combative to those above you, as this could inspire fear and insecurity. Instead, you should show your value, while still allowing your superiors to feel comfortably superior.


Before you make any political move or harbor any political ambition and aspiration in the south west and especially in a State like Lagos State, YOU SHOULD INFORM JAGABAN AND SEEK HIS APPROVAL. You should privately speak with him and let him endorse and sanction your next move. In fact ask for his advise and wisdom and opinion. If he tells you wait, you wait. If he tells you not yet, you wait. If he tells you I am prepping another role for you, you ask what it is and tell him you are ready to and play your part.

That is politics. As funny as it sounds this is the real deal in human relations and politics.

He is already the President seating in Abuja but can't leave Lagos alone......

There will be jubilation of freedom anyway Tinubu state in Lagos

Katy

popp:
I am not a Lagosian and I am not in Lagos, but one thing is a "banker" according to Punters, Sheyi can't be Lagos governor, if Tinubu tries that, he has seen Lagosians "finish" and it will stagger his legacy, structure and political dominance in the state.

Let these words be marked.

Go and rest bro.
Who will stop him?
Seyi will be the governor!!!!!

You don't have a choice in this matter at all like always

They said he was impeached because he wanted to be gov. IF SOMEONE PLANNING TO BECOME A GOVERNOR, WILL HE BE DISRESPECTING AND BEHAVING LIKE EMPEROR TO EVERYONE, WHEN HE IS YET TO SIT ON THE THRONE?

If you hav not become a gov, you are behaving like dem-god, what would now happen, wen they finally give u the mandate?

Obasa just started his journey to political wilderness.