Hon. Lasbat Meranda being sworn in as Speaker
After rumpus, Lagos Speaker adjourns plenary indefinitely
The Speaker of the House, Mojisola Meranda, adjourned the plenary in the House indefinitely on Monday.
This was after she finally gained access to her office and presided over plenary on Monday.
Earlier, in ensuing rumpus, assembly workers and lawmakers had guarded the speaker as she entered the House of Assembly.
After she eventually gained entry, Meranda immediately presided over plenary after the drama among security operatives, including policemen and officials of the Department of State Services.
The lawmakers expressed solidarity with the new Speaker in spite of the tension in the hallowed chamber, insisting that they wanted Meranda to remain the House speaker.
The 36 pro-Meranda lawmakers in the 40-member house, had sensed a move to passed a vote of confidence in the new speaker, forcing her to resign her office for the former Speaker Mudashiru Obasa won’t stand.
However, Meranda became emotional as the lawmakers passed a vote of confidence in her and she thereafter adjourned plenary indefinitely.
The DSS and the assembly have since traded words over the presence of secret policemen at the House. While the DSS said its operatives were invited, the House denied placing such a request.
Meranda, who was Deputy Speaker to Obasa, became Speaker on Monday, January 13, 2025, when more than two-thirds of the 40-member legislative house voted out Obasa over alleged misconduct and sundry offences.
Meranda become the first female to take charge of the legislative body in the South-West state.
A day after she became the speaker, Meranda visited members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) to “brief them about what happened at the House of Assembly yesterday and to seek their blessings which we have gotten”.
Meranda met with members of GAC, the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, alongside other members of the State Assembly at Lagos House, Marina.
Meranda, who represents Apapa Constituency I and ended the 10-year reign of Obasa, has also met with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu after she emerged as speaker.
Obasa, from Agege Constituency I, was first elected into the House in 2007. He has since been in the chamber since then. He emerged as a speaker in June 2015 before his removal in January 2025.
On Saturday, January 25, 2025, Obasa said he remained the speaker until the right thing had been done, faulting the militarisation of the assembly complex during the impeachment process. He also claimed his removal as speaker took place in his absence — when he was out of Nigeria.
However, 32 lawmakers loyal to Meranda insisted that Obasa’s removal was final and that Meranda remained the speaker of the House.
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