The lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, has explained why he will not withdraw from the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election, where he is seeking a fourth consecutive term in office.
Elliot spoke on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he addressed the controversy surrounding the Surulere Constituency I primary and recent allegations linking him to the impeachment of Speaker Mudashiru Obasa.
The actor-turned-politician said no party leader, including the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, had asked him to step down for another aspirant, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare.
“Because I was not asked by him, my leader (Gbajabiamila), never,” Elliot said.
“Even the day I declared [to contest], 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 added.
Elliot, who has represented Surulere Constituency I since 2015, said his decision to remain in the race is driven by his desire to continue serving his constituents and to pursue a principal officer position in the Assembly.
He also alleged that members of his political camp in Surulere were being intimidated ahead of the primary election.
“We are being intimidated in Surulere. If you know you are popular on the ground, do not intimidate the people,” he said.
Elliot also denied claims that he played a key role in the attempted impeachment of Obasa in early 2025.
His response followed remarks by Gbajabiamila during an APC stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos last Thursday, where the former Speaker of the House of Representatives suggested that Elliot was among those who spearheaded the move against Obasa.
Reacting to the allegation, Elliot said he was outside Nigeria when the Speaker was removed and only appended his signature to the impeachment document after his return, when he discovered that most lawmakers 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,” he 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.”
Elliot added that he initially believed the move had the backing of the party leadership but that President Tinubu later clarified that he neither authorised nor had prior knowledge of the impeachment attempt.
He said he was shocked by Gbajabiamila’s public comments.
“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,” Elliot said.
