The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has asserted that former governors of Lagos State are not more experienced or qualified than he is.
Former governors of the state include the current President , Bola Tinubu; former minister of power, housing and works, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwumi Ambode.
Obasa, who stated that he has the necessary experience to contest in the governorship race, clarified that he had not seriously considered running for governor “as has been widely speculated.”
He made these remarks shortly after Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented the state’s 2025 budget, totalling N3,005,935,198,401.
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The Speaker emphasised that his primary focus has been on strengthening the party in the state, explaining that his continued mobilisation of support for the party had been misunderstood by “political detractors” as a pursuit of a governorship ambition.
Obasa said, “I have made it my personal mission to mobilise people on the platform of Mandate, which some political detractors have wrongly interpreted as a selfish ambition for me to become governor. It is necessary to correct this misinterpretation. My priority is building our party, and everything I do is focused on that objective.”
He added, “To those engaging in blackmail and attempting to distort and redefine our mission, let me state clearly that our goal is to promote our party through the Mandate platform.”
“Becoming governor is secondary. It is not something I have given serious consideration. However, that does not mean I am too young or lack the experience to run. Those who have gone before me are no more qualified than I am.”
The Speaker also addressed rumours about his candidacy, stating, “It is important to correct the false insinuations that I have paid to seek blood relations in Ojo to validate my candidacy for governor. While I have never denied being from the Obasa family, I have never claimed to be related to prominent Lagos families such as Onikoyi or Oniru. I am proud of my Obasa roots in Ojo, but I do not need local validation to contest. If I decide to run, I will do so from Agege.”
Earlier, a vote of confidence was passed in the Speaker by all the lawmakers present at the plenary.
During his presentation, Governor Sanwo-Olu outlined the state’s budget, which includes a total revenue of N2,597,034,000,000 and a deficit financing of N408,902,000,000.
The ‘Budget of Sustainability’ includes a recurrent expenditure of N1.239 trillion (41%) and a capital expenditure of N1.766 trillion (59%), to be financed from total revenue of N1,970,897,000,000 and federal transfers amounting to N626,137,000,000.
