President Bola Tinubu has reportedly rejected the move by a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, to secure a 4th term.
Naijaonpoint learnt that multiple Presidency sources disclosed that President Bola Tinubu, at different times, rebuffed separate appeals from powerful individuals sent to lobby on behalf of Elliot.
According to Vanguard, lobbyists have pleaded with Tinubu to override the decision of Surulere All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders, throwing their weight behind the immediate past Lagos Special Adviser on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, as Desmond Elliot‘s replacement.
The source further disclosed that the movie star turned politician reportedly at various times dispatched a retired General, his wife, a Senator, a current serving Minister and an ally of the President, to make his case at the Villa, but they failed to get Tinubu’s nod for Elliot’s 4th term bid.
Tinubu reportedly said his decision is backed by the majority of the Surulere stakeholders, and he had no intention of going against his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, the GAC Leader in Surulere and a pillar of Surulere’s development for years.
The President reportedly went further to explain that the direct primary election will “indicate who commands popular control of Surulere APC politics, not external influence.”
Tinubu was quoted as saying during one of the meetings, “If the people who carried Desmond for twelve years can no longer defend him, that says everything about the boy’s character and performance.”
Speaking on the development, the Surulere Accountability Front (SAF) Chairman, Olanrewaju Badmus, in an interview with Vanguard, insisted on the rejection of Elliot’s fourth-term ambition by the majority of community stakeholders in Surulere.
Badmus described Elliot’s 12 years in office as “12 years of poor representation, political instability and character deficits.”
He added, “Most of the Surulere youths are tired of him and don’t see him as a role model. Power is transient and only God gives power to whom He desires. The call for change in Surulere 1’s representation at Lagos House of Assembly is not accidental. It is the verdict of a constituency that has been patient long enough.”
