Lagos Speaker Breaks Silence on Alleged Funding of APC Primary Election Protesters

The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has dismissed allegations linking him to protests that followed the recent All Progressives Congress (APC) primary elections in the state.

Obasa said claims that he financed or organised the demonstrations were false and should be ignored. He also urged party members and supporters to stop dragging his name into the controversy surrounding the exercise.

His reaction came after a group of aggrieved APC members staged a protest at the party’s state secretariat on Tuesday. The protesters, who were drawn from several local government areas, including Badagry, Mushin, Amuwo-Odofin, Eti-Osa, Somolu, Ajeromi and Oshodi, accused some party leaders of manipulating the outcome of the primaries.

The demonstration sparked rumours in some political circles that the Lagos Assembly Speaker was among those backing the protesters. However, Obasa rejected the allegation and insisted that he had no connection with the action.

According to him, there was no reason for him to sponsor any protest over the primaries, stressing that he was not one of the contestants affected by the disputed elections.

“It is foolhardy, malicious, misleading, and baseless for anybody to assume or imply that I will import or mobilise protesters from different local governments to the secretariat. To achieve what exactly?

“I am not a candidate in the disputed election, so why and how will I devote such an amount of money to organising protests?”

The Speaker maintained that the rumours were designed to create unnecessary tension within the party and mislead members of the public.