Legal practitioner Liborous Oshoma has addressed the controversy surrounding Mudashiru Obasa’s removal as Speaker of the House of Assembly, asserting, “Obasa’s tenure as Speaker has ended.”
Oshoma’s statement, made during an interview with ARISE NEWS, followed claims by Obasa that his removal violated constitutional processes, as he was impeached in absentia. Oshoma clarified that Section 92 of the Nigerian Constitution allows for the removal of a Speaker with a two-thirds majority resolution by Assembly members, without requiring the Speaker’s presence during the process.
He said, “When he said the violation of the Constitution, I expected him to cite the section that he is referring to, just the same way everybody is citing section 92 that created the office of the speaker, that also spells out how the speaker can be removed from office.
“Section 92 subsection 2 paragraph 6 says if he is removed from office by a resolution of the house of assembly by the vote of not less than two-third majority of the members, there is nowhere either in their rules or in the constitution that says the speaker must be present in the house before he can be removed.”
Oshoma affirmed the validity of Obasa’s removal, stating, “As far as the constitution is concerned, Obasa’s tenure as a speaker has ended. He’s been removed as a speaker.”
Thirty-two members of the Lagos State House of Assembly had impeached Obasa while he was in Atlanta, Georgia, replacing him with Deputy Speaker Hon. Mojisola Meranda, while Hon. Fatai Mojeed was elected the new Deputy Speaker. The legislative body also dissolved all standing committees, citing the need for change. Obasa, who had served as Speaker since 2015, continues to dispute the legality of his removal.
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