Lagos Assembly: Obasa denies stockpiling arms, Meranda refutes resignation claim

The ousted Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, on Wednesday, denied reports linking him to stockpiling guns at his office at the assembly.

This is as the current Speaker of the House, Mojisola Meranda, denied resigning from her position.

Obasa denied reports linking him to some firearms allegedly uncovered at his office.

Online reports on Tuesday alleged that 47 pump-action guns were discovered by officials of the Department of State Services during a visit to the assembly on Monday.

Some versions of the reports claimed the weapons were found in Obasa’s office, while others suggested they were in the former Chief Security Officer’s office.

In a statement released by his aide and signed by Obasa on Wednesday, the former Speaker described the report as a “concoction.”

A source in the DSS had on Tuesday told The PUNCH that the report about the agency uncovering weapons at the assembly was false.

Obasa’s statement was titled Re: “DSS Uncovers Arms Cache In Obasa’s Office Day After Lagos Assembly Drama.”

He said, “The ill-conceived story, apart from being a complete concoction, clearly exposes its author and paymasters as maliciously of low intelligence quotient, only out to malign my hard-earned reputation spanning decades of political leadership and legislative hard work.

“From the foregoing, it is obviously discerning that my traducers are furtively attempting to call a dog a bad name just to hang it.”

“I consider their purported sudden discovery of ‘cache of arms ammunition in the Speaker’s Office as nothing but an afterthought, having sensed the futility of their illegal actions,” Obasa added.

Similarly, the Speaker’s Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, debunked the story that his principal, Meranda, had resigned.

An online report on Wednesday suggested that Meranda resigned her position, referencing an unconfirmed letter allegedly emanating from the speaker and circulating on social media for two days.

However, checks by The PUNCH showed that there was no Meranda’s signature on the letter dated February 17, 2025.

In a chat with The PUNCH on Wednesday, Meranda’s aide, Ajiboye, said, “I’m in the office. The Speaker is in the office. I don’t know where that (resignation report) is coming from.”

In another development, the Lagos Assembly, on Wednesday, denied reports claiming that 27 members of the All Progressives Congress had defected to the Labour Party.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Strategy, and Security, Ogundipe Olukayode, asserted that the APC remained “united and focused.”

He dismissed the reports of a “mass defection” from the ruling party as “riddled with inaccuracies and outright falsehoods.”

“The Lagos State House of Assembly wishes to categorically debunk the malicious and unfounded publication alleging that 27 members of the assembly are planning to defect from the ruling party to the opposition Labour Party. This publication is entirely false, misleading, and a deliberate attempt to misinform the public.

“We find this report not only offensive but also riddled with inaccuracies and outright falsehoods that serve no purpose other than to sow discord and confusion within the assembly and among the good people of Lagos State.

“The recent developments in the House, including the removal of the former Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, and the election of Mojisola Lasbat Meranda as the new Speaker, are purely internal matters. These actions were carried out in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.”

“We emphasise, without any ambiguity, that no member of the Assembly is contemplating defection,” the statement added.

.PUNCH