Political Drama Deepens: Desmond Elliot Reveals Misunderstanding In Obasa Impeachment

Elliot made the clarification while responding to remarks by the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, concerning the leadership crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly and claims that he nearly lost his position over the matter.

It will be recalled that some members of the Lagos State House of Assembly had impeached Obasa as Speaker before the decision was later reversed following intervention from the President.

Gbajabiamila had earlier stated that he warned Elliot to distance himself from the impeachment move, but his advice was not heeded. He also claimed that after a call from the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), he asked Elliot to publicly disassociate himself from the process, a request the lawmaker reportedly did not comply with.

However, speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Elliot expressed surprise at reports that Gbajabiamila allegedly risked losing his position due to the crisis.

The actor-turned-politician explained that he believed the directive to impeach Obasa came from President Tinubu, noting that several lawmakers had already signed the impeachment notice before his involvement.

He said he was out of the country with his wife during the period in question and only became aware of the situation upon his return.

According to him, “Frankly speaking, I was not in the country; my wife and I travelled during that period between January and February. We were in recess and it was an opportunity for us to travel. That was the time Honourable Mudashiru Obasa was impeached. It came as a shock because I was in South Africa then. Two days after I came back, I was also as confused as everybody was, and I saw that almost everybody had signed.

“I pretty much thought that the directive was from the President and I appended my own signature. Some people who travelled and returned also appended their signature. Eventually, Mr President called us and made us understand that the directive was not from him and asked us to return the Speaker, and we did. So my leader coming out to say that he almost lost his job came as a shock to me.