Desmond Elliot, the lawmaker representing Surulere I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, has denied claims that he spearheaded the impeachment of Speaker Mudashiru Obasa in 2025.
Elliot’s response follows assertions by Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, who recently implied that the actor-turned-politician was one of the figures behind the controversial action against the Speaker.
Gbajabiamila dropped the remark during an All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders’ gathering in Lagos last Thursday, noting that Elliot’s role in the conflict nearly cost him his political seat.
However, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Elliot refuted the allegation, maintaining that he did not start or orchestrate the impeachment process.
He explained that he was actually outside the shores of Nigeria when Obasa was removed, and he only added his signature to the impeachment paper after arriving back to find that most of his colleagues had already signed it.
“It was a topic that was already dead and buried. It was sorted out and the House is already moving on. Right Honourable Mudashiru Obasa continued as the Speaker of the House,” Elliot said.
“I did not mastermind anything. I had nothing at all. The only thing I did was to append my signature when I came back and I saw a bunch of us, if not all of us, had already appended a signature to say, ‘Oh, it was the party who wanted it.’
“But eventually, the number one Asiwaju called and said, ‘I didn’t order that, I didn’t know anything about it,’” he added.
Elliot further noted that he initially went along with it because he believed the order to oust Obasa originated from the Presidency.
He stated that President Tinubu subsequently clarified that he never gave such a directive or approval, prompting the lawmakers to return Obasa to his position.
The Surulere representative expressed astonishment at Gbajabiamila’s public statements connecting him to the crisis.
“So, my leader coming to say this — that he almost lost his job — one I have served and who has always been there for me for this long, to have said that, came to me as a shock,” he said.
Elliot, who is currently aiming for a fourth term in the Lagos Assembly, also spoke on rumors that the APC leadership is pulling its weight behind Barakat Odunuga-Bakare to take over his seat.
Despite the talk, he clarified that no party leader, Gbajabiamila included, had asked him to pull out of the race before the party primaries.
“Because I was not asked by him, my leader (Gbajabiamila), never,” Elliot said.
“Even the day I declared, I flew to Abuja to see him again to tell him, ‘Oga’, which is how I call him, ‘Oga, I am here again.’
“But at the end of the day, I am here to also serve the people. I do have the leadership, I do have the people. So, the president has said let the people decide. If they want you to continue, you continue.”
He also claimed that individuals in his political camp within Surulere are being subjected to harassment, calling for the party’s top leadership to step in.
“We are being intimidated in Surulere. If you know you are popular on ground, do not intimidate the people,” he said.
Speaker Obasa was impeached early last year after lawmakers in the Lagos Assembly leveled allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office against him.
Following his ousting, the then-Deputy Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, was installed as Speaker, making her the first woman to hold the role in Lagos State.
However, Obasa rejected his removal upon returning to Nigeria and took legal action to contest it.
Weeks later, Meranda stepped down, and Obasa was returned to office following President Tinubu’s mediation. A court later nullified the legislative processes and decisions that had brought about the impeachment.
