The member representing Surulere Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, on Tuesday gave details of his involvement in the impeachment process against Speaker Mudshiru Obasa in January 2025, explaining why he signed the impeachment document.
While being interviewed on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, he responded to remarks by his mentor, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, that he nearly lost his job over intelligence linking Elliot to the impeachment attempt.
The actor-turned-politician said he was out of the country at the time of the incident and had the impression that the impeachment move had presidential backing.
According to him, “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.”
Elliot disclosed that he was in South Africa when news of Obasa’s impeachment broke, adding 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 may be 30-something person at that point in time because others who had travelled had returned and others who signed,” he said.
He revealed 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.
Top Society recalls that majority of members of the Lagos Assembly, on January 13, 2025, voted to remove Obasa as their 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 as the 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.
