News
Obasa’s removal constitutional – Mamora, ex-Lagos Speaker

Former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, and a Minister, Olorunnibe Mamora, has described the removal of the immediate past Speaker of the Lagos Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, as constitutional.
This is coming on the heels of Obasa maintaining that his removal as Speaker was unconstitutional, saying that the due process was not followed.
Mamora was the former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, from 1999 to 2003. He represented Lagos East Senatorial District from 2003 to 2011, Minister of State for Health from 2019 to 2022, and the Minister of Science and Technology from 2022 to 2023 under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Recall that Obasa was removed by 35 out of the 40 members of the assembly on January 13, 2025 over allegations of misconduct and mismanagement of funds and replaced with his former Deputy, Mojisola Lasbat-Meranda.
Obasa, spoke on Saturday amid cheers from members of Mandate Movement and politicians from some local governments in the state at the official residence of the Lagos Speaker in GRA, Ikeja.
The former speaker stressed that the allegations made against him by the lawmakers could not be substantiated, and that he is the most experienced lawmaker in the assembly having been elected six times since 2003.
Mamora speaks
Speaking exclusively with Vanguard, Mamora explained, “He who must come to equity must come with clean hands. That’s my position. I like legislature a lot.
“Let me correct the impression. I have heard people say this in media discourse. If you look at the constitution you would not find impeachment. What you find is removal. There is difference between removal and impeachment.
“Impeachment connotes bringing allegations of wrong doing formally, in presenting before an offending public officer that is impeachment.
“That is when a formal presentation of allegations of wrong doing is presented to a public officer that is impeachment.
“But allegation do not necessary amount to guilt. It only says that these are the allegations that have been brought formally, which the officer has to respond to, that is impeachment.
“If you are now convicted on the basis of allegations and a kind of sentence is passed. They may be spurious, that is they can not be really established. So, they remain allegations.
But when allegations are established leading to kind of sentence, then it may lead to removal. Allegations brought against you through impeachment may not necessary lead to remobval.
For example, President Clinton was impeached over Lewinsky, was he removed. No. He was impeached not removed. By their own constitution it’s the house that will bring impeachment notice, But, the final stage will be by the Senate. It got to the Senate it ws defeated.
But our own constitution does not talk of impeachment in any case, what we have is removal of the President, governor or the Speaker.
The removal of a Speaker in the House of Assembly is or the National Assembly or Senate President is simple.
“What I mean by that is that once members bring a motion that is supported by the two third of members then the speaker or at thje national level vacate the seat, that’s all. It does not even say you should explain. It is just a simple process.
“Because, the speaker, is just first among equals. That is why the process for the removal of the Speaker or Senate President is different from the removal of Mr. Governor, deputy Governor or President, or Vice President.
“Because in the case of the Governor, it is the whole state that voted to put him in office that is why the procedure for his or her removal is a complex process.
The allegations must be supported by one third to be brought and served notice on the holder of the office, wait for his or her response. set up a panel, report comes back to the house and the house come with a two third majority of the house. So you see it’s a complex process.
“But for the speaker, you just sat down, because the speaker is elected by simple majority but the constitution says by two third majority of the house, Speaker can be removed. The Constitution does not even say you should state the allegations.
It only says if you have the support of not less than two third majority of the members, in support of the motion for the removal of the speaker supported by not less than two third, and the speaker vacates. It dis not even say yiu should confront him with the allegations.
Impeachment on Obasa, Constitutional
“Obasa was impeached and removed because there was a presentation which I watched on television. There was presentation of allegations against him. And it was on the basis of the allegations that the house decided to remove him.
“We need to get it clear. What we do here is that we use the word impeachment and removal inter-changeably as they are the same. I need to correct that.
“There could be impeachment without removal. The constitution under section 92, sub section two or thereabout talks of removal that the speaker shall vacate if a motion is presented supported by two third of members. That’s all.
So, allegations were presented against Obasa and on that basis the members went ahead to remove him in consonant with the section 92 of the constitution. So, the removal of Obasa is constitutional.
“If the allegations as read out on the floor of the assembly were true,, am not in the position to determine the veracity because am not a member of the assembly, but as presented by movers of that motion, if they were right then they would be justified to do what they did.
Disrespecting the office of Governor
“I heard of the allegation of Obasa disrespecting the office of the governor and of its true it won’t be right to do that. The Governor remains the number one person of the state as the chief executive. I would not expect the speaker to be rude or show disrespect to the governor of the state no matter what.
But I can not deny the knowledge of a meeting by the GAC, am not a member of GAC, of the Speaker showing disrespect to the Governor. That will not be right of the speaker if you ask me to disrespect the Governor.”
News
Security Personnel Shoots Himself Trying To Nab Suspect In Abuja
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
There was tension on Wednesday As vigilante operating at Dei-Dei community in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mujahid Ibrahim (32), has reportedly shot himself while trailing a suspect in the area. Abuja Metro learnt that the bullets from his rifle injured him around his feet, with at least seven cartridges extracted from his body
He was said to be awaiting x-ray results for the possibility of more cartridges in his body.
The incident took place around 12 am in the early hours of Wednesday when the victim and his colleague intercepted a resident in the neighbourhood, they were guarding for working at late hours.
Speaking yesterday at the Kubwa General Hospital, where he was rushed to, Ibrahim said the suspect came around 12 am against the 11 pm, which was agreed upon by the members of the community.
“My colleague, who attended to him, tried in vain to make him understand the rule, but instead for him to cooperate, he resorted to violence and in an effort to scare him, I cooked my rifle pointing toward the sky. I later withdrew the rifle back to my shoulder, but forgot to pull it back and in the process of running toward him as the man was having a scuffle with my colleague, the gun fired out some bullets that hit me around my feet,’’ he said
Also speaking, his colleague, who accompanied him to the hospital, Ben Isaac, said following the incident, the resident in question disappeared but his elder brother has taken all the responsibilities including the treatment charges.
He added that a 24- hour warning was issued to him to appear or get arrested.
News
Just in: INEC dumps recall petition against Sen Natasha

The Independent National Electoral Commission,( INEC) has rejected the petition to recall the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, inadequate.
The electoral umpire via its 𝕏 handle on Thursday, April 3, 2025, made this known in a terse statement where it disclosed that the group, who initiated the process did not meet the requirements of the constitution.
INEC in a tweet on its ‘X’ handle said; “The petition for the recall of the Senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District has not met the requirement of Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)”.
News
US cancels ex- president ,Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias visa

A former president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, says his US visa has been revoked.
Arias, a Nobel laureate, said he was informed of the decision weeks after he had publicly criticised Donald Trump, comparing the behaviour of the US president to that of a Roman emperor.
The 84-year-old, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in brokering an end to conflicts in Central America, said US authorities had given no explanation.
Arias hinted, however, that it may be due to his rapprochement with China during the time he was president from 2006 to 2010.
Speaking at a news conference in the Costa Rican capital, San José, Arias said he had “no idea” what the reason for the cancellation was.
He said he had received a “terse” email “of a few lines” from the US government informing him of the decision.
He added that he thought that it was not President Trump but the US State Department, which had taken the decision.
While he said it would be conjecture on his part to speculate about the reason behind the visa revocation, he did point out that “I established diplomatic relations with China.
“That, of course, is known throughout the world,” he told journalists of his 2007 decision to cut ties with Taiwan and establish them with China instead.
The Trump administration has sought to oppose China’s influence in the Western hemisphere and has accused a number of Central American governments of cosying up to the Chinese government and Chinese companies.
However, it has been supportive of the current Costa Rican President, Rodrigo Chaves, praising his decision to exclude Chinese firms from participating in the development of 5G in Costa Rica.
But this perceived closeness between President Chaves and the US was criticised by Arias, who wrote a post on social media in February saying that “it has never been easy for a small country to disagree with the US government, less so when its president behaves like a Roman emperor, telling the rest of the world what to do”.
He added that “during my governments, Costa Rica never received orders from Washington as if we were a banana republic.”
Arias is not the only Costa Rican to have had his US visa revoked. Three members of the country’s national assembly who opposed President Chaves’s decree to exclude Chinese companies from participating in the development of 5G have also had theirs cancelled. [BBC]
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