Desmond Elliot, a Nollywood actor and Lagos lawmaker, is facing a brewing tension with the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila over his ambition to represent Surulere 1 Constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly for the fourth term.
Gbajabiamila was said to have backed the immediate past Lagos Special Adviser on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, to replace Elliot in the Assembly.
It was stated the move was part of efforts to promote women and gender inclusion in politics.
Elliot was said to be unsettled by the development and is determined to test his popularity in the All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Assembly primaries on Tuesday.
Vanguard reports that the lawmaker’s bid for a fourth term was said to have hit a snag after President Bola Tinubu allegedly turned down pleas by influential persons who reached out to him to lobby on behalf of Elliot.
Tinubu Blocks Lobbyists
Among those who reportedly approached the President were a retired general, his wife, a senator, a serving minister and an ally of the President.
They were said to have asked Tinubu to overrule the position of some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress in Surulere who are backing Odunuga-Bakare.
But sources said the President was adamant about respecting internal democracy and the wishes of party stakeholders.
“The direct primary election will determine who has popular control of Surulere APC politics, not external influence,” Tinubu was quoted.
He was also quoted as saying: “If the people who carried Desmond for 12 years can’t defend him anymore, that says everything about the character and performance of the boy.”
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