Desmond Elliott, a troubled Lagos House of Assembly member, has accused some APC leaders in Surulere of intimidation, political victimisation and trying to rig the party’s primaries.
In a viral video on Sunday, the actor-turned-politician said members were being coerced to back a preferred aspirant ahead of the APC primaries on May 20, 2026. He also claimed some local government officials were removed because they supported him, calling the state of play in Surulere “unfair and troubling.”
“Intimidation, coercion, twisting and forcing people to follow their own candidate is what is existing today in Surulere,” he said. “Telling them that they will not be beneficiaries of some empowerment that is coming some other time. Please, this is not done and should not be done.”
Elliott added that local government leaders “already took a side months ago” to back another aspirant, a bias he initially kept quiet about. “They were shocked to have seen the quantum number of people and supporters that we’ve had and who have followed us because they believe in justice and fair play,
“My security aid was taken away from me yesterday for reasons best known to them. Now I am left alone to myself. What have I done?” he queried.
He alleged that: “They are coming out to fight us. They want to bring people from outside and from within to cause mayhem and trouble.”
Elliott asked party chiefs to probe the matter: “I want to ask our party chieftains, please investigate this matter,” he said. He vowed to accept a free and fair result: “By the grace of God, if I, Desmond Olusola Elliott, win, Alhamdulillah. If I lose, I will throw my support behind the winner. But please let it be under a free and fair election,” he added.
He urged supporters not to be intimidated, promised security at the polls and used the video to back APC figures including Wasiu Eshilokun, Kadri Obafemi Hamzat and Bola Tinubu. The claims deepen fears of candidate imposition and faction fights in Surulere ahead of the primaries.
