Obasa Was Too Comfortable, Forgot To Tread The Path – Ex-Speaker, Ikuforiji

 A former Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has said Mudashiru Obasa was too comfortable in the seat that was always tough.

Ikuforiji said the ending of the former speaker, Obasa, on Monday, was expected in line with events. He stated that Obasa, who was elected into the House in 2003, knew that he was supposed to tread carefully on the right path.

In an interview with News Central on Monday, the former Speaker noted that Obasa was neglecting his colleagues in the House.

“Let me start firstly by making a correction. All right. Please go ahead. Mr. Mujisola started representing Agege since 2003, not 2007. He came into the year 2003 at the same time with me. And back to your question, the seat of the Speaker is a very hot one. And one should not just get complacent with it. You should not take it for granted. You should not take members for granted because it’s the contribution of all the other 39 members that make your seat comfortable.

“If any of them feels bad with you or is aggrieved, your seat is getting shaken already. If I expected this, I think with events that have been unfolding over time, it’s not out of place to expect that there will be a change of pattern in the leadership of the House,” he said.

Ikuforiji emphasized that irrespective of being a principal officer, all legislators are on the same level. He added that the impeachment was unfortunate but was predicted.

“Well, from what we hear from members and what we observe, I think the Speaker Obasa was getting too comfortable on his seat and he has also moved out of what you would call the path that you must tread. When you start seeing your colleagues as subordinates or when you start feeling that you have become larger than life, it becomes very dangerous in many parliaments.

“I mean, the House of Assembly or the Parliament is one where everyone is equal. When you get elected to lead the House, don’t get carried away with some of your members calling you a leader. That’s just a way of getting you into trouble and I think he easily fell into trouble. I mean, I felt very sad yesterday (Monday) seeing the reaction across the board. I mean, it wasn’t the best for a Speaker who had been on seat for almost a decade,” he added.

Naija News reported that Obasa was Speaker from 2015 to January 2025, making it ten years in the seat. He has, however, denied allegations of financial misappropriations from members of the House.