A mild drama unfolded on Friday at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.

Two lawyers claimed to be the official counsel for the Lagos State House of Assembly during the hearing of a suit filed by Mudashiru Obasa, challenging his removal as Speaker.

Obasa, in suit number ID/9047GCM/2025, filed before Justice Yetunde Pinheiro, is contesting the constitutionality of the Assembly’s sitting and proceedings during a recess, which occurred without the Speaker reconvening the House or delegating authority. His lawyer, Chief Afolabi Fashanu, filed the suit on his behalf.

The case arises from the legality of the Assembly’s sitting and proceedings on January 13, 2025, when Obasa was allegedly impeached as Speaker.

Obasa seeks the court’s interpretation of several constitutional sections and the Rules and Standing Orders of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

At the hearing, Fashanu appeared for Obasa, while Mr. Femi Falana represented the Lagos State House of Assembly. Mr. Tayo Oyetibo stood for Mojisola Meranda, the current Speaker, and Mr. Olu Daramola represented parties seeking to be joined in the suit.

A confrontation occurred when counsel Abang Mkpandiok challenged Falana’s representation of the House of Assembly. Mkpandiok claimed he had been briefed the previous night by the Assembly and had filed a motion for a change of counsel that morning.

He argued that the right to choose one’s counsel is a fundamental human right and requested that the court address his application first.

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Mkpandiok explained that his law firm had been briefed the previous day to represent the Assembly and had filed the necessary documents, although they hadn’t been served to the parties yet.

In a motion filed under Order 52, Rules 2 and 3 of the Lagos State High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019, he sought permission to replace Falana with himself as the official counsel for the Assembly.

Falana objected, stating that he had not been served with the application and remained the counsel on record for the Assembly. Oyetibo also pointed out that he had not been served either. Mkpandiok then proceeded to serve the application to the other counsel in court.

After reviewing the court’s records, Justice Pinheiro noted that the application for a change of counsel was not yet ready for hearing. The court ruled that the application would be deferred pending compliance with court rules, and the request for an expedited hearing would not be addressed that day.

During the proceedings, Daramola informed the court of a Motion on Notice filed by 33 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, seeking to be joined as parties in the suit.

The motion, filed under Section 361 of the Constitution and various court rules, sought to add the lawmakers as co-defendants and compel the claimant to amend the originating processes to include their names.

Justice Pinheiro has set March 7, 2025, for the hearing of all pending applications.

After the proceedings, Meranda denied claims of her resignation and condemned the invasion of the Assembly by Obasa on Thursday. She also addressed her security detail, stating that although she was entitled to 12 police officers and four DSS operatives, only four police officers had been assigned to her so far.

Earlier on Friday, twenty-nine lawmakers loyal to Meranda attended the hearing, where Obasa challenged his removal by 36 colleagues on January 13, 2025, while he was abroad. Obasa’s lawyer, Chief Afolabi Fashanu, filed the application on February 12, 2025, to challenge the removal.

Meranda’s legal team, led by Prof. Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, also attended the proceedings.

Crediblenewsng.com