In a shocking and rare look behind the curtains of power, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has revealed just how close he came to losing his job over the intense 2025 political warfare within the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Speaking on Thursday, May 14, at a constituency stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives recounted a tense, high-stakes confrontation with President Bola Tinubu during the height of the speakership tussle involving Mudashiru Obasa.

The Confrontation in the President's Study

According to Gbajabiamila, the crisis peaked when intelligence reports linked Surulere lawmaker and actor-turned-politician, Desmond Elliot, to an alleged plot to destabilize the leadership of the Lagos Assembly.

Because of Elliot's close political ties to Gbajabiamila, President Tinubu summoned his Chief of Staff to his private study in Abuja for a direct confrontation.

"I hear this Desmond is your boy," Tinubu reportedly told Gbajabiamila, accusing Elliot of being among those orchestrating chaos in the House.

Gbajabiamila immediately defended Elliot, assuring the President that the lawmaker was innocent. However, a skeptical Tinubu, relying on intelligence briefs, issued a stern directive: "Call him to order."

Enter the DSS: Gbajabiamila in the Crosshairs

The drama escalated three days later when the stakes became personal. Gbajabiamila revealed that he received a direct call from the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The spy chief dropped a bombshell: Gbajabiamila’s own name was now being actively cited in intelligence reports as the powerful "backbone" funding and driving Desmond Elliot to push for an impeachment within the Lagos House.

Realizing his career was on the line, Gbajabiamila immediately warned Elliot to pull back from the fray and ordered him to issue a public statement denying the plot. Shockingly, Gbajabiamila noted that Elliot failed to do so.

Saved by a Lifelong Bond

Reflecting on how he managed to survive the political landmine, the Chief of Staff admitted that any other official would have been sacked on the spot. He credited his survival entirely to his decades-long personal loyalty and relationship with President Tinubu.

"If not for the kind of relationship I have with the President today, I probably would not still be here as Chief of Staff," Gbajabiamila confessed to the stakeholders.