BREAKING: Obasa Fumes as Meranda Cuts Lawmakers’ Vehicle Budget by N2bn, Excludes His Wives

The leadership crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly has deepened as Speaker Mudashiru Obasa clashed with his former replacement, Mojisola Meranda, over the procurement of official vehicles for lawmakers. Sources within the Assembly revealed to SaharaReporters on Tuesday that Obasa is enraged after Meranda reduced the vehicle budget by N2 billion and opted to purchase the cars locally instead of importing them from Dubai as Obasa had planned....Read Full Article >>➤

A source close to the Assembly leadership said, “There is an ongoing issue at the Assembly now because of the purchase of 40 SUVs for all the members. What really happened was that it was the same Obasa that approved the project; he was the one that sanctioned the purchase of these vehicles before he was suspended. Meranda only executed the project by awarding the project when she was elected.

“It was not like Meranda did this without Obasa’s approval. Obasa approved it. It was in his plans to buy the vehicles for all the lawmakers. The part played by Meranda is the execution.

“What is causing the problem is that Meranda did not follow how Obasa wanted the execution to be. Obasa wanted to give the project to someone in Dubai. Obasa wants to import those vehicles from Dubai. But Meranda did not do that. She executed the project and gave the project to a Nigerian-based dealer to procure those vehicles. This is what is making Obasa angry.”

Further details from the source revealed, “Obasa had done an approval for the purchase of 35 units of Toyota Fortuner SUV and 10 units of Toyota Prado from Dubai at N7 billion. As a matter of fact, he made the approval on December 23, 2024.

“Upon his removal, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda reviewed the approval and called for a bidding locally and approved the sum of N5 billion for 32 units of 2025 Toyota Prado SUV and 7 units of Toyota Land Cruiser 2025, saving N2 billion for the House.”

Obasa, who was controversially reinstated as Speaker through the reported intervention of President Bola Tinubu and top APC leaders, is now demanding that all the SUVs purchased under Meranda be returned.

The Lagos Assembly has been in turmoil since January when Obasa was impeached over allegations of fraud and misconduct.

His removal, however, lasted only 49 days before he was reinstated, forcing Meranda to step down.

Reports indicate that before his impeachment, Obasa had made arrangements to distribute 45 SUVs—40 for lawmakers, one for the Clerk, and the remaining four for himself and his two wives.

However, Meranda’s actions disrupted his plans.