Three-term Lagos lawmaker, Desmond Elliot, has lost the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary for Surulere Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, following a contentious exercise marked by allegations of intimidation and internal party divisions.
Elliot, who currently represents Lagos State House of Assembly and was seeking a fourth term, reportedly failed to secure the party’s ticket after a closely contested primary held on Wednesday in Surulere Constituency I.
His defeat comes amid a deepening political rift within the constituency, with reports that some of his former allies had withdrawn support for his re-election bid. Party stakeholders were also said to have encouraged him to step aside for another aspirant, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, who was also in the race, an appeal Elliot reportedly declined.
Tensions reportedly escalated during the primary election, as supporters of the incumbent lawmaker alleged incidents of intimidation and harassment aimed at disrupting participation and influencing the outcome of the voting process.
Members of Elliot’s campaign team claimed that there were deliberate attempts to suppress votes in favour of the incumbent, adding that incidents recorded across several voting centres had been documented by journalists and party observers.
“We already knew it was not going to be a free and fair primary, which is why members of Desmond Elliot’s media team invited conventional media organisations to monitor and document the process,” a member of the team said.
As of the time of filing this report, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State had yet to issue an official response to the allegations surrounding the conduct of the primary election.
The outcome sets the stage for further political realignments within the Surulere political landscape ahead of the next election cycle.
