Femi Gbajabiamila has disclosed how he nearly lost his role as Chief of Staff to President Tinubu because of Desmond Elliot’s alleged role in the Lagos Assembly crisis last year.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos on Thursday, Gbajabiamila said Tinubu summoned him to Abuja during the impeachment drama involving Speaker Mudashiru Obasa.
“The President invited him to his residence in Abuja during the Obasa saga and confronted me over reports linking Elliot to the crisis,” he said.
“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 said he defended Elliot, insisting he wasn’t involved. Tinubu, however, told him to call the lawmaker to order.
He added that after the meeting he warned Elliot to stay out of the crisis and later asked him to issue a public statement distancing himself from the plot. According to Gbajabiamila, Elliot didn’t comply.
“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 said.
The Chief of Staff also accused Elliot of trying to whip up religious sentiment, saying CAN had written him to make a case for the lawmaker.
He stressed that religious divisions don’t exist in Surulere politics.
Elliot, who is seeking a fourth term, had earlier said he would apologise if he had erred and asked for another chance to “bring more dividends of democracy to the people.”
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