When Mudashiru Obasa was told shortly after Christmas that his closest adviser had travelled to the United States without informing other members of his legislative staff, the then-Speaker looked to his left, adjusted to clutch his fist and parted a nervous twitch before shooting back: “You don’t mean it!”
From that moment on, the embattled Lagos politician became mindlessly hostile and erratic, often backing at aides and threatening violence, according to people familiar with his behaviour. Mr Obasa’s anger was not that an aide travelled without telling him but because Adenike Ajibosin was more than just an associate.
The following day, he told aides and colleagues he needed to travel urgently to the U.S. However, pressing official functions complicated his schedule, most importantly the 2025 budget, which was undergoing final touches, people familiar with the matter said.
Following heavy Christmas and New Year activities, Mr Obasa rammed through the budget on the first available business day in 2025, January 6. On January 7, Mr Obasa departed Nigeria for the United States, arriving on January 8 to look for Ms Ajibosin and bring her back to Lagos, the people said under anonymity to discuss the matter.
Hours after Mr Obasa left the country, legislative sources accessed a file containing approved expenditures for the assembly, which Peoples Gazette subsequently obtained. The Gazette ran the story on January 10. Mr Obasa was impeached the following Monday, January 13.
Lawmakers circulated the story and a mosaic of other infractions as their main pretext for the Speaker’s impeachment.
“He was in the U.S. to look for her, and everyone in the office knew about it,” a source familiar said. “It quickly created the opening that led to his summary impeachment.”
Lasbat Meranda from Apapa was promptly named the new Speaker, becoming the first woman to hold the position since the parliament was first constituted in 1979.
The fresh information, corroborated by multiple sources, clarified the dubious official line initially presented to the public: that Mr Obasa travelled to attend an international conference of lawyers in Mexico. The Gazette reported that he was at his home in Atlanta when he was impeached in Lagos.
Multiple sources told The Gazette that Mr Obasa and Ms Ajibosin had worked together for years, and she had become his indispensable assistant to the point of steep romantic intimacy. Ms Ajibosin, who was twice married and divorced, earned notoriety for holding the most influence on Mr Obasa, who was first elected to the assembly in 2007 and became Speaker in 2015.
“We all knew her as Madam Speaker,” a source said. “She was always having her way no matter what—very territorial.”
It was unclear if Ms Ajibosin travelled to allow flaring tensions to dissipate among all parties or planned not to return. The Gazette was told she paid for her flights from legislative coffers.
When anti-graft operatives probed Mr Obasa following reports of his corruption by The Gazette and Sahara Reporters in 2020, Ms Ajubosin was the only aide taken into custody.
She reportedly returned a portion of stolen funds she had kept on Mr Obasa’s behalf, but neither she nor her boss was charged.
Before departing for the U.S., she had uncovered that Mr Obasa, long married with children, was having another affair with a junior aide named Jessica. The affair roiled the former Speaker’s office broadly, prompting Ms Ajibosin to leave the country.
“Mr Obasa ran to look for her because he didn’t want her to start spilling secrets,” a person familiar said. “He was so much in love with her, but, most importantly, it was because she knew where all the bodies were buried.”
A legislative source said that Mr Obasa would have been able to fence off attempts to impeach him had he stayed behind.
“Lawmakers quickly got everything they needed to sack him as Speaker because he immediately departed the country after the budget was passed,” a source said. “This wouldn’t have worked otherwise because he’s seen as a fierce politician who was universally feared not just among lawmakers but across politics in Lagos.”
Ms Ajibosin said she had no comments about the matter when reached by The Gazette. A phone number for Jessica did not connect.
Mr Obasa denied all corruption allegations and said he was being targeted for daring to voice his political ambition. However, the former Speaker did not comment on his relationship with Ms Ajibosin.
The former Speaker made an exulting return to Lagos last week, dismissing his removal as illegal and fighting to regain his seat. But his colleagues said his assertion was thuggish and unparliamentary, maintaining his impeachment was by the books.
Mr Obasa’s return also came in defiance of anti-graft officers who had informed The Gazette they were preparing to take him into custody over documented acts of corruption. He initially arrived in Abuja, where he spent days trying to tighten political knots before heading to Lagos for his rally. A spokesperson for the EFCC did not return comments seeking clarification about the agency’s failure to arrest the former Speaker.
