Lagos lawmaker, Desmond Elliot has explained why he supported the attempted impeachment of Mudashiru Obasa in January 2025, saying lawmakers acted under the belief that the move had the backing of President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on Channels TV, the Surulere Constituency I representative said he was outside Nigeria when the crisis unfolded.
According to Elliot, he and his wife travelled to South Africa on January 13, 2025, and he only became aware of the impeachment plot after it had already gathered momentum.
“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,” he said.
“It came to me as a shock because I was in South Africa then… I was also as confused as everybody was.”
Elliot said he eventually signed the impeachment document after observing that many lawmakers had already endorsed it and believing the process had approval from the Presidency.
“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,” he stated.
The lawmaker said the misunderstanding was later cleared up after President Tinubu personally intervened and informed members that the process did not have his authorisation.
“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,” Elliot added.
