Lagos State House of Assembly member Desmond Elliot has raised the alarm over alleged intimidation, coercion, and political victimization within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Surulere, just days before the party’s House of Assembly primaries.
In a viral video circulated on Sunday, the lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency I said his security aides were withdrawn without explanation. “My security personnel was taken away from me yesterday for reasons best known to them. Now I am left alone to myself. What have I done?” he asked.
Elliot accused unnamed APC leaders and local government officials in Surulere of forcing party members to back a preferred aspirant ahead of the May 20, 2026 primaries. He claimed the local government leadership had “already taken a side months ago” and was using intimidation to push members into line.
“Intimidation, coercion, twisting and forcing people to follow their own candidate is what is existing today in Surulere,” he said. He added that some local government officials had allegedly been removed from their positions because of their support for him, and that supporters were being threatened with loss of future empowerment opportunities.
The actor-turned-politician warned that there were plans to bring people from outside and within Surulere to cause mayhem and disrupt the primaries. He called on senior APC leaders to intervene and ensure a free, fair, and peaceful process, saying he would accept the outcome if it were transparent.
Elliot is seeking re-election against Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, a former aide on housing to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Reports indicate Odunuga-Bakare has received backing from Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila and other APC stakeholders in Surulere.
The lawmaker, who is in his fourth term in the Lagos Assembly, recently apologized to Gbajabiamila over past political tensions linked to the 2025 attempt to impeach Speaker Mudashiru Obasa…See More
