The former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa has dismissed a viral report alleging that the Department of State Services (DSS) uncovered an arms cache in his former office.
In a statement personally issued on Wednesday, Obasa described the report, purportedly authored by an individual on February 18, as a “lazy journalistic story” and a deliberate attempt to tarnish his reputation.
Obasa strongly refuted the claims, calling the report “a complete concoction” and alleging that it was sponsored by individuals attempting to malign his decades-long political and legislative career.
He accused the report’s author and sponsors of fabricating a defamatory story riddled with inconsistencies and unverified claims.
The statement said, “The ill-conceived story, apart from being a complete concoction, clearly exposes its author and paymasters as maliciously low-intelligence, only to malign my hard-earned reputation spanning decades of political leadership and legislative hard work.
“In their haste to criminally defame my person, their laughable story, and outright abuse of social media platforms, left so many gaps, with apparent questions begging for answers.
“The story claimed phantom sources in the assembly and also revealed that the discovery came “a day after an uproar occasioned by the presence of the DSS in the assembly complex.”
“Sources in the Assembly hinted that the security operatives assigned to the Assembly had during their routine sweeping exercise, discovered a stack of new arms, including pump action numbering about 47, and live cartridges neatly kept somewhere within the Speaker’s office space.”
“The discovery, according to the story’s specious account, led to immediate notification of “the state security service, who in turn sent in their men to take inventory of the arms and also take them into custody while the investigation is scheduled on the development.
“The author’s and paymasters’ sources also reportedly “shared pictures of the arms and when the DSS operatives were taking inventory of them. From the foregoing, it is discerning that my traducers are furtively attempting to call a dog a bad name just to hang it.”
However, Obasa countered the claims, pointing out that the report failed to establish credible sources and omitted key facts.
He argued that the supposed discovery was a calculated smear campaign, following a series of events involving his controversial removal from office.
He accused the leadership of the House of playing a key role in orchestrating the narrative.
According to Obasa, the House had written a letter, through what he termed a “non-existent Acting Clerk’s position,” falsely alleging that he was planning to storm the Assembly complex.
He claimed that the DSS was voluntarily invited by the House leadership and added that the narrative changed when her move backfired.
“It is of public knowledge that I traveled abroad towards the end of December and returned in mid-January by which time the legislative ‘coupists’ had illegally supplanted my leadership of the House. A matter that is currently before the court of law for adjudication,” he stated.
Obasa further alleged that after his removal, his office and the Assembly chambers were forcibly broken into and searched, but nothing incriminating was found at the time.
He also claimed that the new speaker, Mojisola Meranda engaged in spiritual cleansing of the office with prayer warriors upon taking over.
“I consider their purported sudden discovery of a ‘cache of arms ammunition’ in the Speaker’s office as nothing but an afterthought, having sensed the futility of their illegal actions,” he asserted.
“Their phantom evil story making the rounds is devoid of any logic and dead on arrival like the discovered planted camera at the Lekki Toll Gate, weeks after the EndSARS protest brouhaha.”
The former Speaker also accused his detractors of spreading several other unfounded allegations against him, including fabrications that he constructed a gate for N16 billion and purchased a Toyota Hilux truck for N40 billion.
He alleged that certain individuals had been attempting to extract incriminating information from his aides in a bid to blackmail him, vowing that justice would prevail.
“The dutiful Department of State Services’ involvement, again at their voluntary invitation, will unravel those behind my incessant blackmail since their sponsored story claimed their ‘discovery’ has been reported for immediate action,” he stated.
Obasa concluded by warning that he anticipated further attempts to smear his image, suggesting that his detractors could soon resort to even more extreme allegations such as harassment, rape, or theft.
“At this point, all right-thinking members of the public should know that their story is nothing but lies from the pit of hell,” he declared.
