The second impeachment and removal of a principal officer in the Lagos State House of Assembly occurred in August 2009, when Rt. Hon. Adefunmilayo Tejuoso was removed as Deputy Speaker.
Funmi Tejuoso was one of the most distinguished female members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, serving from 2003 to 2019. She was, in fact, the longest-serving female legislator in the Assembly’s history. A lawyer by profession, she entered the House with a law degree, and by the time she left in 2019, she was in the final stage of her PhD in Law at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
Her background is also remarkable. Her father, a medical doctor, was one of the key figures in finding a lasting solution to a smallpox epidemic in Nigeria. Additionally, she was married into the royal family of Oba Adedapo Tejuoso, the Osiele of Oke-Ona, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Her husband, Kayode, is the second son of Oba Tejuoso.
Notably, she remains the only female member of the Lagos State House of Assembly to sponsor a private member bill that was successfully passed into law—The Lagos State Domestic Violence Law—which she initiated.
However, her tenure in the Assembly was not without controversy. Her issues with colleagues largely stemmed from what many perceived as a standoffish attitude, with some believing she was arrogant.
The immediate trigger for her impeachment proceedings was an incident involving the House Committee on Local Government Administration, chaired by Hon. Adelabu Adewunmi Onibiyo. During an oversight function at Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye LCDA, committee members faced hostility. Reports at the time suggested that Hon. Tejuoso, who was in Philadelphia, USA, had instructed LCDA officials not to welcome the committee members. Additionally, they were allegedly harassed by hoodlums in the area.
It was alleged that she took this action to spite Hon. Onibiyo, who had, on one or two occasions, criticized her mode of dressing in the chambers.
One of the principal officers of the Assembly commented on her impeachment and removal:
“When she was impeached, it was alleged that I was behind it. I knew nothing about that impeachment—nothing! I wasn’t involved in the initial planning. It was only when the entire plan had been hatched that I was brought into the picture at the last minute. They did this because they knew I was very close to her. They said that if I refused to sign, I would be removed. Initially, I resisted the blackmail. To buy time, I called the Speaker, who said he was escorting Asiwaju to the airport. I called Osinowo, who told me he was at a fundraising event for his mother’s mosque in Ijebu-Ode. Meanwhile, these people were pressuring me to sign the impeachment notice.
I asked, ‘What were the reasons given for her impeachment?’
‘So many! Funmi was a good Deputy Speaker but careless, and in the process, she ran into trouble with some people. Take, for instance, her relationship with Hon. Onibiyo. Then there was the Philadelphia issue. Funmi had studied in Philadelphia. So when we went there for a workshop or seminar, she didn’t attend the program. People started discussing her carefree attitude. Then, when the Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye LCDA incident happened, some people felt she had overstepped.’”
Note: You can purchase my book, Two Decades of the Lagos State House of Assembly: Face to Face with Movers and Shakers, to read more about the politicking, intrigues, and backstabbing that took place in the Lagos State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2019.