President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, has revealed that he was personally summoned by the President and nearly lost his position at the Presidency over allegations linking Surulere lawmaker, Desmond Elliot to the crisis that rocked the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Gbajabiamila made the disclosure while reacting to reports that Elliot is insisting on returning to the Lagos Assembly for a fourth term, with the APC primaries now seven days away.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said President Tinubu called him to his Abuja residence to discuss the Assembly crisis, the education department, and related political matters, during which the President raised concerns about Elliot’s alleged involvement.
“He said, ‘I hear that Desmond is your boy the one we gave to you,'” Gbajabiamila recalled.
Gbajabiamila said he immediately defended the lawmaker, insisting Elliot had no role in the alleged plot destabilising the Assembly. However, he said the President maintained that intelligence reports implicated the lawmaker and directed him to warn Elliot to “retrace his steps.”
The Chief of Staff said he subsequently contacted Elliot and conveyed the President’s warning, urging him to distance himself from the crisis.
The matter, however, escalated further when the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) allegedly informed Gbajabiamila that his own name was being mentioned in connection with Elliot’s alleged actions with political circles suggesting the lawmaker could not have acted without his knowledge or backing.
“I called him again and told him to go and make a public statement that he was not part of it,” Gbajabiamila said.
He added that only his longstanding personal relationship with President Tinubu ultimately spared him from losing his office over the controversy.
Gbajabiamila also accused Elliot of attempting to inject religious division into Surulere politics, alleging that the lawmaker had filed official complaints accusing him of fomenting tensions between Muslims and Christians in the constituency a claim he firmly denied, saying he had consistently resisted such divisions throughout his political career.
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