Use of Force in APC Shameful: Tinubu Should Caution Obasa-GRV

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV) of the Labour Party (LP) has criticised the desecration of the Lagos State House of Assembly, describing it as a shameful display by members of the state’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The APC has sort of normalised this idea of using intimidation and force to get their way, and that is what we say today,” the Lagos LP 2023 governorship candidate told Channels Television’s Political Today show on Monday.

“An attempt to intimidate the speaker to resign and step aside, using armed men and the threat of violence, is unacceptable,” he told reporters.Earlier on Monday, armed security agents from the Nigerian Police Force and the Department of State Services entered the hallowed chamber, barring Speaker Mojisola Meranda from entering until hours later.

When she presided over plenary, parliamentarians gave her a vote of confidence, leaving her emotional and crying.
For weeks, the state legislature has been locked in a leadership battle since Mudashiru Obasa was removed as speaker of the Assembly and Meranda was elected.

While over 32 pro-Meranda MPs in the 40-member Assembly pledged allegiance to the first female speaker, Obasa has claimed that his expulsion was unlawful and has filed a lawsuit to dispute the procedure.

The former LP governorship candidate criticised the state assembly’s invasion by armed security officers and urged President Bola Tinubu and the APC Governors’ Advisory Council (GAC) in Lagos to caution Obasa.Rhodes-Vivour stated, “His (Obasa’s) GAC leaders, including the president, should call him to order. Lagos State has advanced significantly. We don’t want to reach new lows. There are polite methods to approach these situations. His party should summon him to order.

He described the spectacle inside the assembly complex as an assault on the legislature, stating that anyone attempting to grab the leadership of the House for political reasons should be ashamed.
“Armed men entering the legislature is a low point and a shame for Lagos politics. “It is completely disgraceful,” he stated.

It’s sad that all of the corruption allegations brought before the previous speaker have not yielded any results,” he added, even as he urged the EFCC to investigate the allegations against Obasa.