•Desmond Elliott
Desmond Elliot, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Surulere Constituency I, has explained why he signed the impeachment notice against Speaker Mudashiru Obasa during the January 2025 leadership crisis in the Assembly.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television today, the actor-turned-politician said he was outside the country when the impeachment took place and believed the move had the backing of the presidency.
Elliot’s remarks came in response to claims by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who alleged that intelligence reports linked him to the impeachment attempt and nearly cost him his position.
“I would like to state categorically that I wasn’t in the country. My wife and I travelled during the period of January 13th of 2025.
“We were in recess and then it was an opportunity for us to travel to attend my wife’s younger sister’s wedding,” he said.
According to Elliot, he was in South Africa when news of Obasa’s impeachment broke. He added that the development caught him off guard.
“That was the time Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa was impeached (by Lagos State House of Assembly).
“It came to me as a shock because I was in South Africa then. So, obviously, it took me about two days to come back. I was also as confused as everybody was.
“And then I saw that almost everybody had signed. And pretty much we thought it was from the presidency. In all fairness, we thought it was from the presidency.
“And, of course, I appended my own signature. I believe I was maybe 30-something person at that point in time because others who had travelled had returned and others who signed,” he said.
Elliot disclosed that lawmakers later received clarification from President Bola Tinubu that the impeachment was not authorised by him.
“But eventually, Mr President called us and made us understand that it was not from him and asked us to return the speaker. And we did,” he added.
Reacting to Gbajabiamila’s accusation, Elliot said he was surprised by the comment considering their longstanding political relationship.
“So, my leader (Gbajabiamila) coming to say this, that I almost lost his job, one I have served and has also been there for me for this long, to have said that came to me as a shock,” he said.
The majority of lawmakers in the Lagos Assembly, on January 13, 2025, voted to remove Obasa as Speaker while he was reportedly on vacation in the United States.
They accused him of gross misconduct, abuse of office, poor leadership style, persistent lateness to plenary sessions and alleged mismanagement of Assembly funds, allegations Obasa denied.
Following his removal, his deputy Mojisola Meranda was elected Speaker.
After weeks of political tension, court actions and eventual interventions by leaders of the All Progressives Congress and Tinubu, Meranda was forced to step down and return to her position as deputy speaker while Obasa was reinstated as speaker.
