By Glam & Essence
Nollywood actor turned politician and a three-term Lagos State lawmaker, Desmond Elliot, has lost the All Progressives Congress primary election for Surulere Constituency I, that would have secured him the ticket for a fourth term bid.
The primary was riddled with controversy and allegations of intimidation during the exercise.
It was a tense primary contest marked by internal party disagreements and heightened political rivalry, that involved a prolonged political rift with Elliot’s former political allies, who were said to have withdrawn support for his re-election bid.
Elliot, who currently represents Surulere Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly was seeking a fourth term in office, but party stakeholders had allegedly urged him to step down for another aspirant, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, who was also contesting for the seat, but Elliot declined and proceeded with his ambition.
Tension escalated during the primary election on Wednesday, with supporters of Elliot alleging widespread intimidation and harassment aimed at preventing them from participating in the voting process.
Members of Elliot’s media team claimed there were deliberate attempts to suppress votes in favour of the incumbent legislator, alleging that incidents at various voting centres were being documented by journalists and party observers.
According to the team, reports and footage of the alleged harassment would be made public, to challenge the credibility of the exercise.
Elliot’s team said,
“We already knew that 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”.
These alleged claims by Elliot’s team are yet to be responded to by the leadership of the APC in Lagos.
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