• Dispels Claims of having President’s Backing

• Accuses Lawmakers of Tarnishing his Reputation

• Safiu Kehinde

Impeached Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has dispelled claims of having the backing of President Bola Tinubu in his ongoing tussle over the leadership of the House.

Obasa held that the President has more than enough to attend to than to delve into the affairs of the Lagos Assembly.

The embattled Speaker stated this in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday evening.

Recall that members of the Assembly had last month impeached Obasa, replacing him with his Deputy, Mojisola Meranda, as the new Speaker.

This marked the beginning of the ongoing crisis within the House as Obasa rejected his impeachment following his return.

NPO reported that the ousted Speaker made a dramatic returnto the House on Thursday morning under heavy security backing, taking over the plenary as he insisted that he remained the Speaker of the House.

His supporters has also stormed the Assembly in solidarity with the Agege lawmaker.

Meanwhile, they were claims of the ousted Speaker having Tinubu’s backing which was also evident in the frustration of the Lagos lawmakers over the APC leadership following the drama and tension on Thursday morning.

Reacting on the alleged backing of the President on Politics Today, Obasa affirmed his cordial relationship and age-long loyalty to Tinubu.

He, however, dispelled claims of having his backing on his return as the Speaker.

“I’ve been following this man (Tinubu) immediately I left secondary school and I have pictures with him. During SDP, I contested for post of delegate. So since then, I have been one of his disciples and I’ve not changed till tomorrow.

“If they are just realizing that now, that means they have not been part of us since Genesis.

“The President has more than enough on his table to take care of than to tinker with the problem of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

“But I will always respect him as my father, my leader. I will always continue to be loyal to him.

“Whether he asked me or he did not ask me, I know what is right to be done and will continue to do that without his approval. If anybody want to read meaning to that then goodluck.

“President has always been supporter of everybody all over Nigeria. He has always been a good provider providing for all of us.” Obasa said.

On the opposition of his return by members of the House, Obasa maintained that he is not against their decision.

He, however, accused them of plot to ruin his reputation.

“Time will tell. You cannot force a woman to be your wife. It’s a matter of choice. I’m not against them. I’ve said it that they are my brothers and sisters. Whatever they want to do, nobody is against that, but we remain one. After all, we only have one member of Labour Party in the House.

“I’m not against anybody, I’m not fighting anybody. There is no intention of witch-hunting or pay back or anything. We just want to work together.

“I’ve spent over 20 years in this House of Assembly. Then you cannot just come and disgrace me; destroy my personality; destroy my reputation. It is not good.

“If they want to do anything, let them do it in a normal way. If they claim I’m corrupt and all of that , tell that panel and let us probe it.” Obasa said.

Meanwhile, he dismissed having grudges with the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while claiming that there is no chaos in the Assembly.