Embattled Lagos State House of Assembly member, Desmond Elliot, has given reasons why he supported the impeachment process against Speaker Mudashiru Obasa in January 2025.
The Lagos lawmaker in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday said, “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 on recess and then it was an opportunity for us to travel to attend my wife’s younger sister’s wedding.”
The actor-turned-politician while reacting to remarks by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, that he nearly lost his job over intelligence linking him to the impeachment attempt said he thought the president was in support of the move.
Elliot, who represents Surulere Constituency I, added that the impeachment occurred while he was in South Africa and came as a shock to him.
“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.
He added that it was later that the lawmakers received clarification from President Bola Tinubu that the impeachment was not authorised.
“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.
He said Gbajabiamila’s allegation came as a shock to him, given their longstanding relationship.
“So, my leader (Gbajabiamila) coming to say this, that I almost made him 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.
The Obasa impeachment brouhaha began in January 2025, when a majority of the Lagos State House of Assembly impeached the long-serving Speaker while he was vacationing in the United States.
They accused him of gross misconduct, abuse of office, high-handedness, poor leadership, persistent lateness to sessions, and alleged financial mismanagement of Assembly funds.
His deputy, Mojisola Meranda, was immediately elected as the new Speaker, becoming the first female to occupy the position.
Obasa rejected the impeachment as illegal and unconstitutional, insisting due process was not followed.
This led to weeks of tension, court cases, parallel claims to leadership, and interventions by APC national leaders and Tinubu.
It was eventually resolved when Meranda resigned, paving the way for Obasa’s reinstatement as Speaker.
