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Hon. Desmond Elliot is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly for Surulere 1 Constituency. He speaks to a national television on the alleged issues with his political mentor and Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and alleged intimidation by some political actors. CHIBUIKE CHUKWU brings the excerpts
President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, said he asked you to make public pronouncement denouncing your involvement in the 2025 Impeachment of the Lagos speaker, Obasa; what actually happened?
There was no such discussion; besides the whole issue is over a year plus. So revisiting that situation is not something I think I want to embark on.
But clearly that issue is not as buried as we thought somehow
That’s why we have the party structure. And I believe so much in the All Progressives Congress party structure. We are such a formidable party and we have such a formidable party structure that I think through investigations they’ll be able to do that. But I do not see myself standing hand in hand or one-to-one with my leader, someone I’ve respected for much of my life.
But can you articulate why the Chief of Staff to the President chose that gathering or engagement in Surulere to speak on the issues concerning your involvement in the Impeachment saga, given that since that engagement and the revelation of your alleged part, which went viral, it seems the situation escalated the more? I asked this question because you have been very careful not to betray your loyalty to the leaders of the APC
Like I said, I do not or I couldn’t tell why my leader, Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, raised that topic up because even after that time, we have had a series of engagements. I’ve visited him countless times at the villa. We’ve had a smooth relationship. So, I mean, he would be in a better position to answer that question. But I do not think it’s something I want to engage in talking about, and like I said, as an Omoluabi, let’s not forget that the tenets of a Yoruba person is what I am, and how I have been brought up. I could never look up to a leader and speak about him. I think leadership to leadership should be able to handle that. It’s my job to say there is a situation at hand, can leadership look at it. I don’t want to get myself involved in it. What I am against; what I am firmly against is talking down and bringing people down, intimidating people and sacking people, firing people from the local government because they are my supporters. I think it is wrong. I think it should not be done. And do not forget that people who are not partisan, who are just sitting on the fence are watching. And don’t also forget that there is a general election coming up soon. And I want to support Bola Ahmed Tinubu to return as president. And I want to be at the forefront of him coming back to bring the dividends of democracy because I know Bola Tinubu has nothing but legacy to give to Nigerians. So please, I want to beg those who are intimidating people, I want to beg the local government, stop intimidating us.
Do you think it’s a good idea for you to bring this intimidation up with your leader, as you call him, Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila? To raise it up with him? Is he aware?
I believe he’s aware. I’m sure he’s aware. Well, I could send a message, I could call him. I’ve tried to reach out to him on several occasions. Like I said, again, I always come back, you see, I’m one who’s very strong with tradition, culture, and tenets. As a matter of fact, one of my greatest plans if I hopefully come back to the House, is bringing the Lagos State Orientation Agency, whereby we begin to start letting our people understand those things that are not in the constitution, which is how we are as a people, with respect. So my plan is for my boss and whoever it is to understand that we must stop intimidating people.
But is there any chance of you having a conversation with him just to understand what exactly is happening? This is because for him to have made that public statement at what looked like a town hall meeting, then he must have some kind of information. And it’s also perhaps a bit surprising that even at that meeting, one would have expected that as he was going to talk about it, you would be there at that meeting. Also, do you have any idea where that meeting held and why you weren’t there?
I understood it was held at the local government council, in my constituency, but I wasn’t around at that period, even though I wasn’t invited. So I’m not sure, I couldn’t give details of that meeting, really. But what I do know is it was a topic that was already dead and buried. It was sorted out. The House of Assembly is already moving on. The House has been moving right, while Mudashiru Obasa continued as Speaker. I did not mastermind anything leading to that incident against him. I had nothing to do with it 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 the signature to saying, oh, it was the party who wanted it. But eventually the man, the number one person, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, called and said, ‘I didn’t order that thing. I didn’t know anything’.
Do you have any idea where the Impeachment came from?
Where can an ant in all of this be found? What’s my business in all of that? My business is to follow the structure, make sure I am accountable to my people. Don’t forget I’m a representative. I’m not an investigator. I’m not whatever. As a representative, my job is to lobby the dividends of democracy for my people.
In whatever you are going through as you lamented, some people have posited that it could be that your people may be are saying ‘Okay, we’ve had enough of Honourable Elliot, let’s bring someone else in’. What is your take on this?
Well, I don’t think that would be the voice of the people, which is why in the benevolence and magnanimity of Mr. President, he also said everybody go and test your popularity; go out and do direct primary. So that’s why I am not withdrawing for the other candidate because I was not asked by him, by either of my leaders to withdraw. Even the day I declared, I flew to Abuja. The day I bought my forms, I flew to Abuja to go and 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 leadership. I also have my people to serve and the president has said, ‘let the people decide. If they want you to continue, they will let you continue. If they don’t, it means they don’t want you’. Another issue I would like to bring here is the issue that I raised two or three days ago about intimidation and I think that is a matter that must really be dealt with. And I’m hoping that the party stalwarts and party leadership should look seriously into it.
Yes so many people listened to that issue you raised. So who is intimidating you?
I don’t know who is doing that, but what I do know is we are being intimidated in Surulere and what is the essence? If you know you are popular and you are on the ground, do not intimidate the people, test your popularity and how you are grounded with the same people instead of resorting to intimidation.
It was also reported that the director general of your campaign organisation said he won’t be working with you as he had pitched his tent with Barakat, is it true and what is your take on this?
That is not true; my DG is still very much with me, but I do have some of my people in my think tank that were also working at the local government and have been sacked. And they have, I mean, they have to survive. Some of them have called me crying. We’ve cried together. And I said, ‘my brother, go back home. Go and feed your family. If it means you have to stop, then stop’. But you see, these are the things that must stop. And if this is what God has brought me to the party and to politics to do and to stop, I’ve been very truthful to my people. If people can come into my house, sit down 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 10 a.m., and then I can open myself entirely to the people, then you cannot be able to say stop. All I want to tell them is to stop the intimidation of people. Stop coercing them. Still at the local government, they told him they are going to stop the revenue he’s getting for the local government because he’s one of my supporters.
Once again, who is this intimidator? Is it the local government chairman?
If you hear the local government, you know who the head of the local government is. So that’s the chairman who apparently happens to be my friend. Obviously, the chairman of the council and I are loyal to one person. And if one person gives a directive, we know what it is. But at the end of the day, we should not forget that this is primaries. Surulerians are watching. They are seeing everything and they know those who are accessible. They know those who they call. They know those who go to the hospitals. They know those who take care of the widows. They know those who answer their phone calls whenever they call. They know the people who are on the ground. And that is what Asiwaju has been asking everybody to look out for. Look out for those people who are doing these things, who are accessible because they are the ones that will bring APC back to power. Now, you are twisting people and forcing them into doing other people that are not popular on ground, thinking that there’s no general election? There is a general election. And at that general election, people will see. Let’s see if you can untwist them.
Even though you are still not mentioning any name….
(Cuts in) No, I can’t. I can’t mention names because at the end of the day, Surulerians know what I’m talking about. They know who is serving them genuinely and who they should back.
Let’s get back to the Impeachment issue, at the time when you saw the paper where everyone had signed to remove Honourable Mudashiru Obasa as the speaker, did you try to make any findings as to what exactly it was about?
Yes, I did. I called a few of my friends, close friends or colleagues, and I’m like, why would you not tell me that this kind of thing happeyn? And they said, well, ‘you are around but now you have seen it’. So basically it was more like saying we follow the bandwagon. But at the end of the day, the leader of the party, President Tinubu, called a meeting, and it was sorted. Everybody did their apologies. As a matter of fact, if we could recall on that same day as we’re leaving the Villa, the Chief of Staff was at the villa and I came down from the bus with one of my colleagues, and many of my colleagues can attest to that, and we went to see him, not only to thank him, but to show solidarity, to say thank you, sir, we love you, you know, because everybody knows how much I have truly loved him as the leader in Surulere, and that’s how we went. So to your question, yes, I asked some of my colleagues what had happened and I was told.
You did ask your colleagues what happens but not the leader? Some people would have preferred you asked the leader of the House
You know leadership at this point was, if you remember, had changed. The lady had come in. Honourable Meranda had come in at this point as speaker, and, you know, we just got feedback from that, and that’s it. You must understand that in politics, you have to be very, very careful, and extremely careful, which is why I tread very carefully in politics. You can’t hear this or hear that, so you follow as the leadership in the House goes. The House is a separate arm of government, and the leadership starts from the speaker down. Honourable Meranda had come in at that point. When I got another information, I called her. At that point, I was in Jos, Plateau State, celebrating the 60th anniversary of St. John’s College, and I told her on video call that I had gotten a different information, and I relayed it to her, and I said, ma’am, I think it’s best for us to tell the people what had happened, because it would be very cowardly of me to just leap, and leap, and go to the other side without everybody coming along, which I also did at that point in time.
You said when in the House, you’re representing the party, but at this point right now where you’re going to primaries, you are talking about what you have done for the people of Surulere. Who exactly do you represent? Do you represent the party, or do you represent the people?
I represent the people, but I listen to the party because the party brings me in. It’s the people that I represent but I listen to the party because I didn’t’t come in as Desmond Elliot. I came in as an APC representative. But once I come in as a representative, whether you’re in APC, PDP, whichever party you find yourself, I represent you as long as you are in Surulere 1 Constituency, and that I have shown in everything I’ve done in areas of road infrastructure. Many roads have been upgraded. I have lobbied and through all that, Surulere has steady solar lights, as you’ve seen today. If you come into Lagos and Surulere today, you’ll find out from Akerele down to Adeniran Ogunsanya, Akilo, Eric Moore, Bode Thomas, Western Avenue, Ogunlana Drive, everywhere is lit up, lit up with solar-powered electricity. I’ve also been involved in the injection power substation, to which I had the land given. The land was given to me by the then LSDPC MD, in person of Sanwo-Olu, who is the present governor, and I turned it over to Eko DISCO, and also spoke with the then speaker, Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who provided the 20 MVA. So today in Surulere, we are proud owners of two 20 MVA-powered transformers that can power Surulere, Coker Aguda, Itire, Mushin and even Lagos Mainland. I am so proud of the great effect and work we’ve been able to do. In terms of prepared meters, we know that they’ve been doing a lot of estimated billings. Today in Surulere, you can’t find that, or you find it very minimal. I have been very instrumental in making sure that a lot of prepared meters have been given out. What I’m focusing on right now is to make sure that the macro and micro water substations we have in Surulere will work for the people of Surulere and we are already working on it, because we are trying to make sure that Iju Water works and also Ajio. And if those two don’t work, we’ll make sure that Surulere itself can supply water to Surulerians. And that’s my scorecard. I’m saying these base on scorecard, not on intimidation, not on telling people not to come out on the day of election, not to tell them that you’re going to do this and you’re not going to get them into the empowerment. You ask yourself what is empowerment? Cars? Cars that people will go and die? Please, I want to speak to the people of Surulere. The life of your children rely on the people who represent you. We have been doing it and we’ll continue to do it. If you know Desmond Olusola Elliot has been doing it for you, back him; you can knock on my door. I have never told one person, any day, any time, to go out of my house when they come knocking. I will never do that, as long as God has given me the strength. And I’m telling you today that I will not stop at doing it, as long as you give me the opportunity. Do not be intimidated. Do not be afraid. Come out on Wednesday (today) and vote for the candidate of your choice. And guess who that candidate is?
You said your security was withdrawn; how did it happen?
I had two personnels giving to me about three weeks ago because of an incident that happened. And all of a sudden, they just called me out of the blues and said they were asked to leave. And I’m like, leave for where?
So doesn’t this tell you that perhaps someone, perhaps the leaders, might be beating the drums behind the scene that you are no longer needed?
No, it cannot be the leaders. APC is not like that. Let’s be very clear about this. The All Progressives Congress is not an intimidating party, we might have people in the APC doing this, but not the APC. And I know Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will definitely frown when he discovers, because I know he will do his investigation and he will find out who has ordered for that to have happened. So with that, my life is now at risk.
