By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

President Bola Tinubu has opened pressure on members of the Lagos State House of Assembly to allow the return of Mudashiru Obasa as Speaker, people familiar with the development have revealed, three weeks after an impeachment that sent shockwaves through the nation’s commercial haven.

The Nigerian leader said this weekend that lawmakers should be prepared to let Mr Obasa return because the political price for his removal could potentially outweigh the benefits of punishing his excesses, which bordered largely on corruption and abuse of office, two people said. All but two of the 40-member legislature are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

“The president has sent instruction that we should start preparing to let him come back,” a senior Lagos politician who participated in a series of meetings this weekend said. “The president said Obasa will spend only a short time before resigning on his terms.”

“We have agreed to let him come back to give him a soft landing that he told us he deserved because of the serious political consequences of allowing this matter to endure,” the politician said anonymously to discuss the minutiae of internal political deliberations. “I would do it differently if you asked me to be the ultimate decision-maker in this matter.”

However, some lawmakers said his return would be difficult for those who participated in his impeachment, especially those who circulated copies of The Gazette’s story that preceded it.

“We’re afraid that bringing him back will be like trying to pacify a snake after its head was severed,” a source said. “Its venom will be super deadly.”

Another senior political operative in Lagos told The Gazette the president had summoned a meeting in Abuja on Monday, where those not already onboard would be exhorted.

“Many of us have agreed that he should be allowed to return because we can only see the beginning of this fight but not how it may end,” the politician said. ” The meeting is scheduled for Monday, and some of us still in Lagos are already preparing to leave for Abuja.”

On January 13, Mr Obasa was removed as Speaker after lawmakers learned, through The Gazette’s reporting, that he had looted billions in procurement allocations for vehicles and other items they didn’t receive. Lasbat Mojisola Meranda was immediately named as his replacement. However, officials said she has seemingly allowed Mr Obasa to intimidate her in her new role, even though she had the backing of at least 32 out of the state’s 40 legislators.

Since January 13, when Ms Meranda was inaugurated as Speaker, she has not been allowed to move into the official residence along Joel Ogunnaike, Ikeja G.R.A. The Gazette was told that Mr Obasa, who was in the United States during his impeachment, went directly to the Speaker’s Lodge when he landed in Abuja from Atlanta and later triumphantly returned to Lagos. Upon his return, he denounced his impeachment as illegal and vowed to remain in office.

“He said they should let him enter the official lodge to remove his personal belongings,” a source said. “But he has refused to vacate the place, and Madam Speaker has been too afraid to take over from her.”

It was unclear what influence Remi Tinubu had on her husband’s decision to push lawmakers to reinstate Mr Obasa. This came days after the media reported that the first lady stopped the anti-corruption agency EFCC from arresting the embattled politician. However, she said an investigation into his use of public funds in Lagos may proceed

Mr Tinubu’s move to reinstate Mr Obasa should expand fissures within the Lagos political circles, but the president’s grip on the state’s politics meant no lawmaker would risk being seen as reluctant to follow his directive, a source said.

“Look, some lawmakers are very angry that the president decided to humiliate them like this,” our source said. “But they don’t want to lead any resistance against the president, who is also the party’s leader.”

A presidential spokesman revealed on Sunday morning that he was unaware of the president’s directive to Lagos lawmakers. Messrs Obasa and Meranda declined to comment on Sunday morning.

It was also learnt that Mr Obasa met Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu in Marina on Saturday to finalise his return as Speaker, which may come as soon as next week. An aide to the governor confirmed the meeting without elaborating.

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Just a week after a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Afe Babalola, withdrew his cases against lawyer and rights activist, Mr Dele Farotimi, there is unease among Nigerians over the status of other pending lawsuits against the activist.

Their concerns are borne out of the fact that the police, having arrested and charged Farotimi with 12-count of cybercrime offences and 16-count of criminal defamation based on Babalola’s petition, there are other lawyers who instituted legal actions against the activist, claiming over N1 billion in damages.

On December 6, 2024, a SAN, Mr Kehinde Ogunwumiju, sued Farotimi for alleged defamatory statements in his book: ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System.’

The Managing Partner at Afe Babalola & Co asked for N500 million in damages, while further appealing to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court in Abuja to halt the book’s publication and sale in physical and online bookstores.

Ogunwumiju, who pleaded with the court for an order for the seizure of the copies of the book wherever they might be found, stressed that Farotimi must apologise to him in two national newspapers.

Less than five days after Ogunwumiju’s suit, specifically on December 11, 2024, another lawyer from Babalola’s law firm, Mr Ola Faro, petitioned the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, alleging that the rights activist also defamed him in the aforesaid book.

Validating his claim, Faro identified specific statements in the book which allege that he, Babalola and his law firm, Afe Babalola & Co, compromised the integrity of the Supreme Court. According to Faro, the statements are not factual and are deliberately written to tarnish his reputation.

While Faro also sought N500 million in damages against Farotimi for unlawful defamation, he requested N100 million in damages for distributing the book.

Meanwhile, following the intervention of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and some other traditional rulers in the feud between Babalola and Farotimi, the police prosecutor, Samson Osobu, last Wednesday, applied for the withdrawal of the cybercrime charges at the resumed hearing of the case at the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

For the other criminal charge filed by the police against Farotimi before a chief magistrate’s court in Ado-Ekiti, Sunday Vanguard gathered that the case scheduled for February 13 has not been withdrawn as of the time of filing this report.

On December 3, 2024, reports emerged that Farotimi had been arrested in Lagos by the police.

Confirming his arrest, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ekiti State Police Command, DSP Abutu Sunday, said:

“The command wishes to inform members of the public that one Mr Dele Farotimi is currently undergoing investigation following a petition written against him to the Office of the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, for an allegation of defamation of character and cyberbullying. He was arrested today in Lagos with a warrant after all means deployed by the command to bring him for interrogation proved abortive.”