A former Nollywood actor and lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, has apologised to the President's Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
This was captured in a social media video showing the lawmaker on his knees, pleading for forgiveness and to be accepted back into the All Progressives Congress family in Lagos.
He said, “I’m sorry. I have no excuse; I have nothing other than to say I’m deeply sorry. I’m deeply sorry, sir. And in our culture, we prostrate. Don’t be angry, Daddy.”
The difference between Elliot and Gbajabiamila came to light in May when the CoS revealed that he almost lost his job because of the actor.
According to him, this was after he learnt that Elliot was allegedly among those who ensured the impeachment of Speaker Mudashiru Obasa of the Lagos State House Assembly.
He told an audience of supporters, “I almost lost my job as Chief of Staff last year because of Desmond Elliot. Mr. President called me to his house in Abuja during the Lagos Speaker Obasa saga. He said, ‘I hear this Desmond is your boy, the one we gave you,’ and I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ He is one of the people causing problems in the Lagos House of Assembly.
“Immediately I said to Mr. President, no, no, no. Desmond is not part of them.
“I haven’t even spoken to him. I didn’t know whether he was part of that. I said, no, he’s not part of them.”
Gbajabiamila said the President insisted on Elliot's involvement in the impeachment saga because intelligence pointed to him.
The CoS further stated, “I called him. That’s what I told him. Just like the President, this is what he said.
“If you are one of these people, if you are part of them, get out of there.”
I thought Tinubu ordered it - Elliot
Reacting, Elliot revealed that he signed Obasa's impeachment notice because he was told the order came from President Tinubu. According to him, other lawmakers had already signed the notice before he returned from a trip to South Africa.
“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.
“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.
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