Meranda: Why Lagos For Lagos Agitators Are Circling Crisis At Assembly

Monday’s invasion of the Lagos State House of Assembly by security operatives identified as agents of the Department of State Services (DSS) continues to attract widespread condemnation—and interest.

Insiders disclosed that stakeholders in the state, operating under the movement loosely termed Lagos for Lagos or Eko Mi, Eko E (My Lagos, Your Lagos), are taking serious interest in the unfolding political crisis.

Lagos for Lagos or Eko Mi, Eko E—alongside other like-minded movements—reflects increasing campaigns by people across different social, economic, and political terrains for more Lagos indigenes to be given a fair chance to participate in the affairs of the state.

Monday’s development at the Lagos State House of Assembly is seen as a direct assault on this agitation, which formed the nucleus of the all-out campaign that helped the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) retain the state in the 2023 election after losing the presidential election amid an intensely divisive and tribal hate-filled electioneering process.

The new Speaker, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, is a thoroughbred Lagos indigene with direct lineage to four royal families.

“She is the highest-ranking true-blood Lagosian in the government of Lagos State, and what happened is now being taken by the Lagos for Lagos agitators as their fight,” sources hint.

According to information at hand, the DSS was invited to heighten security at the Lagos Assembly in anticipation of an attempt by removed Speaker Mudashiru Obasa to force his way back into office.

Obasa was removed as Speaker without any dissenting votes on January 13, 2025, while he was abroad. Meranda was unanimously elected as the first female Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly on the same day.

Obasa returned to the state on Saturday, January 25, 2025, and declared that he remains the Speaker despite his removal.

Although the lawmakers responded with a vote of confidence in the new Speaker, Meranda, the development resulted in political tension, setting the stage for Monday’s events—widely labeled a desecration of the hallowed chamber and democracy at large.

The DSS sealed off the offices of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, the Acting Clerk (all newly elected leaders), and the legislative chamber amid a raging rumor of an alleged plan to edge out Meranda for Obasa by unnamed powerful players.

Backed by staff of the Assembly, the lawmakers mobilized and regained access in what was labeled a “rape of democracy.”

Emerging details indicate that as the Lagos for Lagos agitators come together, early concerns are already surfacing among APC members and their sympathizers.

“The 2023 election has shown that belief in a movement—the zeal in a concept—can undo a lot of things, even against established platforms. That was what was used against the APC during the presidential election in Lagos, and it was the same strategy—using reverse psychology—that bailed the party out during the governorship election, with Lagos for Lagos playing a prominent role.

Having a movement with believers across party lines and social statuses stand against the party, with a general election barely two years away, may be a hard nut to crack,” is the theme of reactions here and there.