Fouad Oki, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Mudashiru Obasa’s impeachment as speaker of the Lagos house of assembly was necessary to hold him accountable for his actions.

Oki spoke on Monday when he appeared on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, in the aftermath of Obasa’s impeachment.

Earlier on Monday, Obasa was removed as the house speaker over allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office.

The 52-year-old lawmaker, who represents Agege state constituency I, became speaker of the Lagos state house of assembly in 2015. He was serving his third term as speaker.

Mojisola Meranda, the deputy speaker, was subsequently elected to lead the house.

Oki said anyone familiar with Lagos politics could have envisaged Obasa’s impeachment, noting that he had begun to see himself as an “emperor”.

The APC chieftain said events of the last three months had also suggested that Obasa’s days were numbered.

“He saw himself as an emperor. It became very obvious that there was a need for a change in the leadership of the parliament in Lagos,” Oki said.

“If you cast your mind back, you must have seen this coming in the last 18 months.

“Recall the events on the day when the governor presented the 2025 appropriation bill and the leadership of the party was invited to the convention.

“Not only was the governor kept waiting for over four hours, but the leadership of the party and all invited dignitaries were also kept waiting with no apologies or excuses. And when he came into the chambers, courtesies, too, were not extended to anyone.

“Rather, it was a situation or an event of letting people know that I am the emperor here. One of the ways to check such an irresponsible attitude is by calling his excesses to order.”

Oki added that the impeachment was done in President Bola Tinubu’s best interest to see that Lagos continued to remain pivotal in terms of his political leadership.

“Before the president came home, this issue had been lingering. In the wisdom of members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the president’s attention was called,” he said.

“The president, as father and leader, called a meeting wherein he tried to make sense out of the observations raised by elders of the party.

“Unfortunately, the president saw by himself a recalcitrant. I think that is what broke the camel’s back.”

[TheCable]