How I Nearly Lost My Job Over Desmond Elliot, Lagos Assembly Crisis — Gbajabiamila

How I Nearly Lost My Job Over Desmond Elliot, Lagos Assembly Crisis — Gbajabiamila

Lagos, Nigeria – Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, has revealed that his position was nearly jeopardized due to the 2025 political crisis within the Lagos State House of Assembly. Speaking at a constituency stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos on Thursday, May 14, 2026, Gbajabiamila recounted a tense confrontation with President Bola Tinubu during the height of the speakership tussle involving Mudashiru Obasa. The conflict centered on reports linking Surulere lawmaker and actor-turned-politician Desmond Elliot to moves aimed at destabilizing the House.

According to Gbajabiamila, the President summoned him to his study in Abuja and pointedly questioned his associate’s role. “Mr President called me to his study in Abuja and said, ‘I hear this Desmond is your boy.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ He then said Desmond was among those causing problems in the Lagos State House of Assembly,” Gbajabiamila recounted. Gbajabiamila immediately defended Elliot, insisting the lawmaker was not involved in any plot against the House leadership. “I told the President that Desmond was not part of them. I hadn’t even confirmed from him yet, but I defended him based on the trust I had in our relationship,” he confessed. However, the President remained skeptical, citing intelligence reports, and directed Gbajabiamila to “call him to order.”

The situation escalated three days later when the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) contacted Gbajabiamila with alarming intelligence. “The Director-General called me and said there was a serious issue, that my name was everywhere as the person supporting Desmond to push for impeachment,” Gbajabiamila disclosed. This development placed the Chief of Staff in an existential political crisis, as it suggested he was the “silent backer” of the rebellion against the President’s interests. “Of course, the President will not believe that Desmond will do such a thing, and I don’t know about it,” Gbajabiamila remarked.

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Gbajabiamila stated that he subsequently warned Elliot to distance himself from the crisis and instructed him to issue a public statement denying the allegations. “I told Desmond to go and make a public statement that he was not part of them, but till today he has not done that,” he stated with disappointment. According to Gbajabiamila, rather than comply, the actor-turned-lawmaker “started cutting corners.” The refusal to publicly dissociate himself from the crisis kept the pressure on the Chief of Staff.

Gbajabiamila also leveled serious allegations against Elliot, accusing him of stoking religious tension in the Surulere constituency. He claimed that Elliot had involved the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the political dispute, causing division between Muslims and Christians. “For Desmond to be getting CAN, Christian Association of Nigeria to be writing an official letter to me and to the party, and causing division between the Muslims and the Christians,” Gbajabiamila stated. He maintained that religious sentiment had no place in the constituency, stressing that leaders and residents had always coexisted peacefully regardless of faith backgrounds.

Ultimately, the Chief of Staff credited his long-standing personal relationship with President Tinubu for saving his job. “If not for the kind of relationship I have with the President today, I probably would not still be here as Chief of Staff,” he admitted. He further remarked: “If it were not that I had the kind of relationship I had with the president, I wouldn’t be here today.” The admission underscores the depth of trust between the two political allies, which weathered the storm of the Assembly crisis.

The revelation sheds new light on the internal power struggles of 2025, which saw Speaker Mudashiru Obasa briefly ousted before being reinstated following President Tinubu’s reported intervention. Obasa was impeached on January 13, 2025, by a majority of legislators while he was reportedly returning from the United States. The allegations against him were sweeping — financial impropriety, abuse of office, high-handedness, and authoritarian leadership. In his absence, the chamber installed Deputy Speaker Mojisola Meranda, making history as Lagos’ first female Speaker. However, the impeachment was hailed by its architects as a triumph of accountability, but its choreography raised troubling questions. Reports of a “fake mace” and heavy police presence lent the episode the air of a coup rather than a constitutional process. Obasa himself would later allege that the chamber was broken into and his loyalists intimidated.

Meranda’s tenure lasted just 49 days before she resigned, citing the need to restore harmony. Her resignation paved the way for Obasa’s return, but the decisive blow came from the judiciary. On April 16, 2025, the Lagos High Court declared the January 13 proceedings unconstitutional, null, and void. Justice Yetunde Pinheiro’s ruling was unequivocal: the Assembly had violated its own standing orders and the Constitution.

The timing of Gbajabiamila’s revelation is significant, coming as the 2027 electoral cycle approaches. The once-unbreakable bond between Gbajabiamila and Elliot appears to have fractured beyond repair. Analysts suggest that by making this story public, Gbajabiamila is signaling a total withdrawal of his political umbrella, leaving Desmond Elliot to navigate Lagos politics without his longtime benefactor. The rift became more public after Elliot declared his interest in seeking a fourth term in office. Responding to questions on whether there was a rift between him and Gbajabiamila, Elliot had earlier appealed for reconciliation and forgiveness: “Our leader is a compassionate leader. A leader of thought. We are children. Children sometimes err. If I have erred in any way, my leader, I am sorry. Give me another chance, and let’s move on.” However, Gbajabiamila’s latest comments suggest that the political wound remains fresh, and the political godfather may not be willing to mend fences ahead of the next election cycle.

How I Nearly Lost My Job Over Desmond Elliot, Lagos Assembly Crisis — Gbajabiamila