Lagos APC primaries: Group, Elliot bicker over planned violence in Surulere

•I thought Tinubu approved Obasa’s removal — Elliot

By Dapo Akinrefon

LAGOS — A political pressure group, Surulere Accountability Front, SAF, has alleged a plot by supporters of the lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, to cause chaos during Wednesday’s All Progressives Congress, APC, assembly primaries in the constituency.

The group, in a statement by its Chairman, Mr Olanrewaju Badmus, alleged that Elliot had allegedly brought non-residents into the constituency to disrupt the exercise across the six wards, where voting would take place.

According to the group, the alleged plan is to force the primary election into an inconclusive outcome.

Badmus said: “We have confirmed information that Desmond Elliot has flooded Surulere 1 with non-Surulere people ahead of the primaries across all six wards where voting will take place.

“They allegedly plan to use gunshots to scare voters away and let the primary election become inconclusive, believing he will then be called for negotiation.

“We will not negotiate our representation with someone who has shown desperation, greed, and disrespect for the organised Tinubu political structure in Lagos and lust for power.”

The group’s leader further alleged that some of the individuals brought into the area were being accommodated in hotels, church halls, and mosque halls in Ward G and market spaces within the constituency.

He said that some youths in the area had earlier chased out suspected outsiders from Lawanson Market and urged party members and residents to remain vigilant during the exercise.

Allegation is laughable — Elliot’s camp

However, a source within Elliot’s camp described the allegation as laughable, saying his opponent and her supporters “are only jittery of the lawmaker’s popularity.”

The source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The allegation is a figment of their imagination. They are jittery because they know Elliot will defeat them. We are for free and fair elections, and we will surely win in a free and fair contest.”

I thought Tinubu approved Obasa’s removal— Lawmaker

Meanwhile, Mr Elliot, yesterday, explained why he signed the impeachment notice against the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, during the January 2025 leadership crisis in the Assembly.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, the actor-turned-politician said he was outside the country when the impeachment took place.

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.

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.

“That was the time Mr Mudashiru 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 a 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.

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