Obasa likely to emerge as Lagos Speaker today

The Eighth Assembly of Lagos State will be inaugurated on Monday (today), with Mr. Mudashiru Obasa, emerging as the Speaker.

Our correspondent had reported that the All Progressives Congress had decided to zone the position of Speaker to Lagos-Central senatorial district since the Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is from Lagos-East while his deputy, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, is from Lagos-West.

Accordingly, the leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was said to have favoured Wasiu Eshilokun representing Lagos Island constituency 1 as the next Speaker.

However, after further consultations, the leaders of the party and a large section of the House were said to have favoured Obasa who represents Agege constituency 1 which is in the Lagos-West senatorial district.

Our correspondent learnt from a reliable source that Eshilokun would emerge the deputy speaker of the House.

The source said, “Our initial plan was to zone that position to Lagos-Central and Eshilokun was favoured. However, the problem with Eshilokun is that he has not been a member of the Assembly since he left in 2003 and it might take some time for him to adjust as a newcomer.

“Obasa has been accepted by most of the APC lawmakers and is a ranking member. He is also very sound. The deputy speaker will go to Lagos-Central which will most likely be Eshilokun.

Apart from Obasa picking the speakership position, the position of Deputy Chief Whip was also zoned to the district and the member representing Alimosho constituency II, Mrs. Omotayo Oduntan, has been favoured as the Deputy Chief Whip.

The eight lawmakers-elect, who won elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party also met last Friday.

It was learnt that the immediate past Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro, and other party leaders in the state advised the lawmakers-elect on the role of the PDP in the next Assembly.

However, it remained unclear who would emerge as the minority leader as of press time.