The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has revealed how he nearly lost his position in the Presidency over the alleged involvement of actor-turned-politician Desmond Elliot in the political crisis surrounding the impeachment plot against Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa.
Gbajabiamila made the disclosure while addressing constituents and party members in Lagos State, where he spoke on the tensions that rocked the Lagos Assembly during the controversial Obasa leadership crisis last year.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu personally summoned him to his private study in Abuja over intelligence reports allegedly linking Desmond Elliot to the anti-Obasa moves within the Assembly.
“I almost lost my job as the Chief of Staff last year because of Desmond Elliot. You can go and verify with him,” Gbajabiamila said.
Recounting the incident, he said the President questioned him directly about Elliot’s alleged role in the crisis.
“Mr. President called me to his study in his house in Abuja during the Obasa saga. He said, ‘I hear this Desmond Elliot is your boy, the one we gave to you.’ I said, ‘Yes sir.’”
“He said, ‘I hear he is part of the people causing problems in the Lagos House of Assembly.’ I told Mr. President immediately, ‘No, no, no, no, no. Desmond is not part of that. I hardly speak with Desmond.’”
Gbajabiamila said Tinubu insisted that intelligence reports suggested otherwise.
“Well, I’m telling you from intelligence that he is part of that. Go and tell him to retrace his steps. This is what Mr. President told me,” he narrated.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said he immediately contacted Elliot and warned him about the seriousness of the allegations.
“I called Desmond. I said, ‘Desmond, how many ears do you have? I just left the President and this is what he said. If you are one of these people, if you are part of them, get out of there.’”
“He started giving excuses and dribbling me,” he added.
Gbajabiamila further disclosed that the matter escalated days later after the Director-General of the Department of State Services contacted him over reports allegedly linking his name to the Assembly crisis.
“Three days later, the Director-General of DSS called me and said, ‘Chief, there is a problem. Your name is being mentioned all over the place that you are the one behind this and supporting Desmond Elliot in this event.’”
“Of course, the President would not believe that Desmond would do such a thing and I would not know about it,” he stated.
He said he again reached out to Elliot and instructed him to publicly distance himself from the controversy.
“I told the DSS that I had called Desmond and he promised to withdraw his steps and that he had not done anything. I called again and told him, ‘Desmond, go and make a public statement that you are not part of this. Go and make a public statement.’”
The presidential aide said the episode nearly cost him his position, adding that his longstanding relationship with Tinubu ultimately saved him.
“Till tomorrow, if it was not for the kind of relationship I have with Mr. President, I probably would not be here today,” he said.
Gbajabiamila also accused Elliot of allegedly introducing religious division into their constituency politics.
“I’ve been in the political process for over 25 years. I have never heard of where people bring religious division into our constituency,” he said.
“But Desmond will be getting calm and writing an official letter to me and to the party, forcing division between Muslims and Christians.”
