Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has declared that the legislature will make laws and ‘reverse all reversibles’ in the areas of property and economy to protect indigenes of the state.
In the build-up to the February and March elections in Lagos, there were divisive statements made on and off social media.
The rhetoric heightened tension during the election, amid reports of intimidation and harassment of voters, mostly of Igbo extraction in the state, on election day.
On Tuesday, Obasa was unanimously re-elected as speaker after the proclamation of the state’s 10th assembly by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of the state.
The emergence of Obasa as the speaker of the 10th assembly means that he will be occupying the position for the third consecutive term.
In his acceptance speech, the speaker said Lagos is a “Yoruba land” and that laws passed by the assembly will now be translated to Yoruba language.
Obasa added that the assembly will ensure that laws are made to protect the interests of indigenous people of Lagos, adding that lawmakers will “reverse all that is reversible to protect the interest of the indigenes”.
He said, “Lagos is a Yoruba land as against the assertions of some people that it is a no man’s land. Therefore, part of our legislative agenda is to ensure the translation of laws passed by this House to the Yoruba language.”
Mr Obasa, a longtime ally of Mr Tinubu and a staunch member of the establishment, stated this on Tuesday, in his acceptance speech as a third-term speaker of the Lagos parliament and the inauguration of the 10th Lagos assembly, revealed plans by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to pass new land and property laws would favour only indigenes.
The Lagos speaker revealed the plot of the APC-controlled state parliament to use “all legislative instruments” to favour indigenes against other tribes.
“We also aim at achieving our collective goals of creating a robust legislative framework that protects the interest of our people. Going forward in this wise, we are going to employ all legislative instruments for the support of the indigenes of Lagos,” the speaker of the Lagos parliament declared.
Obasa further asserted, “There would be laws and resolutions in the areas of economy and commerce, property and titles, and we will reverse all that are reversible to protect the interest of the indigenes.”
