.As he officially picks nomination form to seek re-election
The lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency 1 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Olusola Elliot, has appealed to the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, for forgiveness if he had offended him while serving the constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Elliot made the appeal while fielding questions from newsmen after picking up his nomination form to seek re-election for the Surulere Constituency 1 seat ahead of the 2027 polls.
He said, “Our leader is a compassionate leader. A leader of thought. We are children. Children sometimes err. If I have erred in any way, my leader, I am sorry. Give me another chance, and let’s move on, and let’s bring more dividends of democracy to the people.
“Although he has not said that I have erred, I’m just saying that if I have, then this is the situation.”
Reacting to reports of rejection by the Surulere Accountability Forum, SAF, the actor-turned-politician dismissed the claims as propaganda, saying, “I don’t know them. It’s just political propaganda. You can see for yourself. I only came to declare to the CDA, and you can see for yourself.
Elliot defended his bid for a fourth term, saying experience in the legislature translates to more benefits for constituents. “Three terms is great. But guess what? Another term is fantastic. You can see the developmental strides we are making in the legislature. The longer you stay, the better you become.
When you become a ranking member, what you get for your people is way better than when you start.
“There are areas we still need more roads, and we still need more jobs. Where they give us slots of two, two, three, three. As a ranking member, you know you get more. And then other things, you get better committees that will help you bring better development to your people, as you have seen in Surulere.”
The lawmaker said he plans to push for the establishment of an Institute of Legislative Studies and the Lagos State Orientation Agency if re-elected. “I want to make sure that younger kids begin to learn legislature right from primary and secondary school. I also want to push the Lagos State Orientation Agency. That agency is supposed to help in teaching us those things that are not in the law, but will help in bringing morals, values, and culture back into our society.”
He likened government to a continuum, stressing that legislative experience matters. “If you say I should stop, then in the legislature, if you stop, you start with somebody who started from the beginning. So that person starts from one. And then the things that your ranking members will get, the person who starts will not get it. So you see that it pays to have someone go over and over again.
“Like my leader. In his fourth term, he tried to become Speaker, and then he got it in his fifth term. And trust me, if he were in his first or second term, he definitely would not have been Speaker.”
By Olayinka Ajayi
