News
Lagos Assembly: Rhodes-Vivour Condemns Attempt to Force Meranda to Resign
The 2023 Labour Party, LP, governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has alleged an attempt to use the Department of State Services, DSS, to force the Speaker of the state Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, to step aside or resign.
Rhodes-Vivour said the invasion of the Lagos State House of Assembly by DSS operatives was a major blow to politics in the state.
Operatives of the DSS and the Nigeria Police, on Monday, took over the Lagos State House of Assembly
The invasion followed a leadership crisis between the Assembly and its former speaker, who was impeached on January 13.
Meranda had replaced Mudashiru Obasa as Speaker.
Obasa was impeached while he was in the United States.
Upon his return to Nigeria, Obasa had insisted that he was not impeached, stressing that the lawmakers failed to follow due process in his removal.
However, featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Rhodes-Vivour said lawmakers must not owe their loyalty to godfathers.
He said: “It was a major low for politics in Lagos State today.
“What we saw today was an attempt to intimidate the speaker to step aside and resign by using armed men and threats of violence.
“Whoever is behind this should solve this problem in a civilized fashion because the State Assembly must owe its loyalty to its constituents and not any godfather.”
Nigeria may face tanker shortage as the Federal government, on Wednesday, hinted of plans to ban 60,000- and 45,000-litre capacity trucks.
While most tankers hauling petroleum products across the country are around 45,000 litres, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said such capacity would be outlawed.
Coming amidst rising tanker accidents that have been causing deaths and the destruction of properties, NMDPRA issued an immediate ban on petroleum products tankers with a 60,000-litre capacity.In the absence of pipelines, Nigeria relies on tankers to haul petroleum products across the country, a development that has remained a menace to road infrastructure and the lives of citizens.NMDPRA’s Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Ogbugo Ukoha, told journalists in Abuja that the action on the 60,000-litre capacity would take effect from March 1, 2025, while the 45,000-litre capacity would be allowed to load products until the fourth quarter of 2025.
Reports said between 2010 and 2025, over 2,500 truck accidents claimed more than 3,500 lives in Nigeria, with the deadliest incident occurring in Jigawa in 2024, where an overturned fuel tanker exploded, killing dozens and leaving a scarred mass grave.
While stakeholders had agreed in 2020 to cap truck loads at 45,000 litres, NMDPRA said tankers exceeding 60,000 litres have continued to ply the roads, worsening the accident crisis.
The authority said there would be a phased approach, beginning with the 60,000-litre ban and gradually scaling down to 45,000 litres by the fourth quarter of 2025.
“We cannot fold our hands and wait for pipelines or railways to become viable alternatives,” the official stressed.
“Every life lost is one too many. This is the work we must do, and we will not back down,” Ukoha said.
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the removal of CP Lanre Ishola as the Commissioner of Police, Lagos, replacing him with CP Moshood Lawal.
The removal is with immediate effect…
Details soon…
By Eric Elezuo
Amid growing tension following the impeachment of former Speaker Mudashiru Obasa of the Lagos House of Assembly, security operatives including men of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Lagos Task Force and the Nigerian Police Force, have reportedly taken over the Assembly complex, locking the Speaker, Mojisola Meranda and her Deputy.
Eyewitness says that amidst the uncertainty, the Speaker of the House arrived to the cheers of other lawmakers, who expressed confidence in the leadership of Rt. Hon. Meranda.
There has been pleasure on Hon Meranda to resign as Speaker since the brouhaha emerged as a result of the rejection of his impeachment by Obasa, who had since taken the matter to court.
Other sources alleged that Meranda may have to resign to pave way for peaceful resolution of the crises that originated from the January 13 impeachment of Obasa.
