Lagos APC: What Desmond Elliot Should Learn From Hakeem Masha’s Political Fate
Editor’s note: Desmond Elliot’s defeat in the Surulere APC primary election has reopened talk about loyalty and influence in Lagos politics. Analyst Temidayo Akinsuyi discusses how party structure and key alliances influenced the outcome and the former lawmaker’s political standing.
At last, the long-awaited All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for Surulere Constituency I has been concluded. The outcome, however, delivered one of the biggest upsets in Lagos politics ahead of the 2027 general election.
Source: Facebook
Desmond Elliot, actor-turned-lawmaker and three-term member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, lost his bid for a fourth term after Barakat Odunuga-Bakare defeated him in Wednesday’s primary election.
Odunuga-Bakare, who is believed to enjoy the backing of Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, polled 11,385 votes, while Elliot secured just 270 votes.
A crushing margin and Elliot’s rejection
Despite the wide margin, Elliot has rejected the process and vowed to challenge the outcome through the party’s appeal mechanism.
“We are appealing, and as I say, it is not a do-or-die affair. I’m here to serve the people. That’s my home. They come to my house,” Elliot told reporters after the exercise.
“The only person who can ask me to step down is the party. If the party says Desmond go down, that is when I will step down because I’m a party person.”
Interestingly, after my recent article titled ‘Surulere Constituency I: Can Elliot do what Ambode couldn’t?’, one of the lawmaker’s aides reached out to defend his principal’s decision to remain in the race despite losing political backing within the party structure.
His argument was simple: the APC leadership under Tinubu never categorically asked Elliot to withdraw. He also claimed denying Elliot another term would be detrimental to Surulere because the lawmaker stood a strong chance of emerging as a principal officer in the assembly — possibly even speaker — thereby attracting more projects to the constituency.
Defence, loyalty claims, and internal party logic
While that argument may sound logical on the surface, it ignores the deeper realities of Lagos APC politics.
Following the failed removal of Mudashiru Obasa as speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly — a move eventually reversed after Tinubu’s intervention — it became increasingly clear that many lawmakers perceived to have contributed to the crisis would struggle to secure return tickets.
Tinubu is too experienced politically not to understand Obasa’s excesses, including his frosty relationship with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Yet, the president chose stability over escalation because Lagos remains his political base.
For Tinubu, preserving political order in Lagos is non-negotiable. After all, if one cannot manage political tensions at home, questions may arise about managing the country, and this may be hugely detrimental to securing a fresh term in office.
Elliot’s situation became even more complicated after he was seen weeping openly when Mojisola Meranda stepped down as speaker to pave the way for Obasa’s return. Many within the party interpreted the emotional reaction as quiet disapproval of Tinubu’s directive restoring the status quo.
That perception alone weakened his standing.
Gbajabiamila factor and Surulere dominance
Even after Gbajabiamila openly backed Odunuga-Bakare, Elliot continued campaigning with Tinubu-branded materials while promising to work for the president’s re-election.
But the obvious question remained: in what political capacity? Can anyone realistically claim to be more politically valuable to Tinubu in Surulere than Gbajabiamila, his chief of staff and one of his closest allies?
In practical political terms, if Gbajabiamila rejects a candidate publicly, it is almost impossible to separate that position from Tinubu’s broader political thinking. Had the president genuinely wanted Elliot to continue, Gbajabiamila would most likely not have endorsed another aspirant so openly.
Elliot also reportedly argued that returning to the assembly for a fourth term would position him for the principal office and allow him to attract greater development to Surulere.
Again, that argument raises another question: what projects can a principal officer in the Lagos assembly realistically deliver that would surpass what Gbajabiamila — a former speaker of the House of Representatives and current chief of staff to the president — already attracts to Surulere?
Source: Instagram
Within APC politics in Surulere, Gbajabiamila remains the undisputed political authority. Only Tinubu himself — and perhaps the First Lady — can override his political decisions in the constituency.
History supports this reality.
Ajide vs Gbajabiamila clash
Years ago, Tajudeen Ajide, former chairman of Surulere local government, engaged Gbajabiamila in a fierce supremacy battle over control of the council’s political structure.
In an interview I conducted with Ajide at the time, he openly accused Gbajabiamila of fueling the crisis in the local government.
Eventually, Gbajabiamila prevailed and ensured that his loyalist, Sulaimon Yusuf — then vice-chairman to Ajide — emerged as council chairman.
Ironically, Elliot later described Yusuf as his friend, yet complained on national television that Yusuf intimidated his supporters while campaigning vigorously for Odunuga-Bakare.
But what else should anyone have expected in such circumstances?
Politics, especially in Lagos APC, is ultimately about structure, loyalty, and alignment with established power blocs.
Elliot undoubtedly has the constitutional right to seek legal redress or continue contesting the outcome internally. However, he must also understand the political culture of the Lagos APC.
Defying entrenched party directives is often interpreted as mutiny, and the consequences can be severe — sometimes leading to long-term political isolation.
Lessons from Hakeem Masha precedent
Perhaps Elliot should study the political fate of Hakeem Masha, a former lawmaker who represented Lagos Island Constituency I in the Lagos assembly between 2011 and 2015.
In 2015, Masha sought re-election, but the party leadership preferred Wasiu Eshilokun, particularly because the speakership was expected to be zoned to Lagos Central.
At the primary election, Eshilokun polled 186 votes against Masha’s 70.
Masha rejected the outcome, and the dispute eventually ended up in court.
The legal battle dragged on for months before Justice Ibrahim Buba ordered INEC to recognise Eshilokun as the APC candidate while restraining Masha from parading himself as such.
Masha proceeded to the court of appeal but eventually withdrew the case.
The political outcomes afterward were instructive.
Eshilokun later became deputy speaker of the Lagos assembly and is now a senator and has just secured the party's ticket for reelection to the senate. Masha, on the other hand, gradually disappeared from mainstream Lagos politics. Since that dispute, he has neither won elective office nor secured any significant political appointment, both in Lagos and at the federal level.
Just a few weeks ago, he reportedly attempted a return to the Lagos assembly but was advised to step down.
The lesson for Desmond Elliot is straightforward. In Lagos APC politics, victory is not determined merely by popularity or ambition. It is often determined long before the ballot by alignment with the party’s dominant political structure.
And when that structure moves against you, resistance may satisfy personal pride — but history suggests it rarely ends well.
Final lesson from Ambode
Former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is today a member of the influential Governance Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making body in Lagos APC, largely because he accepted defeat gracefully after losing the governorship primary to the party’s preferred candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Rather than defect or head to court, Ambode congratulated Sanwo-Olu and pledged loyalty to the party. Desmond Elliot should take a cue from that example.
Temidayo Akinsuyi, former Group Politics Editor at Daily Independent, is a political analyst, writer, and commentator with over a decade of experience covering governance, elections, leadership, public policy, and international affairs.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
