Two civil rights and anti-corruption groups on Tuesday stormed the Lagos State office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to submit a Petition Letter, calling for credible and thorough investigation of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa, over alleged corrupt practices.

The groups held the peaceful protest at the premises of the anti-graft agency in line with the social distancing order of the federal and state governments, vowing to ensure that the matter was fought to logical conclusion.

The protesters who were drawn from the members of the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) and Civil Society Network Against Corruption(CISNAC) led by CHRSJ'S Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman and CISNAC's Programme Officer, Comrade Sina Odugbemi, stating that the allegation was genuine and founded.

The protesters who were armed with the placards with different inscriptions such as: ‘Obasagate: We demand EFCC investigation,’ ‘Lagos must breathe,’ ‘Lagos Assembly must be free,’ ‘Lagos Assembly is a public institution,’ and so on.

They urged the EFCC to conduct the credible and thorough investigation into all the allegations of fraud leveled against Mr. Obasa, saying that the allegations were weighty, and should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet.

Speaking after the submission of the Petition Letter, Comrade Sulaiman alleged that Mr. Obasa has been working round the clock to ensure that the weighty allegations of corruption leveled against him were swept under the carpet by reaching out to some anonymous groups for cover up.

The rights activist who assured the people of Lagos State nay Nigeria that they would not allow the matter to die without due and proper investigation by the anti-graft body, alleging that some acclaimed human and civil rights organizations have been bribed to support the corrupt practices of the Speaker, however said that their group were battle ready to work with President Muhammadu Buhari to stamp corruption out of the land as being thought under the tutelage of late social crusader and human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN.

Also speaking, Comrade Odugbemi maintained that the purpose of submitting the Petition Letter was to ensure that the due process was followed in the investigation of the matter by getting to the root of it, dismissing the State Assembly Panel which had earlier exonerated Obasa from all the allegations of corruption leveled against him, insisting that Assembly panel could not be the judge in the case that affected its Speaker, adding, “the position of the Panel could not stand the test of time in the face of war against corruption in Nigeria.”

He strongly condemned the way and manner the Assembly Panel dismissed the matter which made the world to know that something was fishy about the subject matter.

According to the Petition Letter dated March 16, 2020 entitled ‘Demand for Urgent Investigation and Probe of Hon Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly and Others,’ signed by Comrade Olanrewaju Suraju, the Chairman, CISNAC and also forwarded the copy to President Muhammadu Buhari for notification and necessary action on the subject matter and copies were made available to newsmen after the protest.

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