Lagos—A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly has admitted to signing impeachment documents without reading them, believing the order came from Nigeria's presidency, in a revelation that exposes the dangerous intersection of executive overreach and legislative complicity in Africa's largest democracy.
Desmond Elliot, a lawmaker and former Nollywood actor, made the damning admission regarding the attempted impeachment of former Speaker Mudashiru Obasa. "I was in South Africa for a wedding when the impeachment commenced. I was confused when I returned," Elliot said. "I saw my colleagues signing and I signed too thinking the order was from the presidency until the president called us to return the speaker which we did."
The statement reveals a troubling pattern of democratic backsliding where legislators abdicate their constitutional responsibilities based on assumptions about executive preferences. That lawmakers would sign impeachment documents—which require serious allegations and due process—without reading them demonstrates the fragility of institutional independence in Nigerian politics.
The Lagos State Assembly crisis erupted as internal power struggles within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) spilled into legislative affairs. Obasa, who had served as speaker since 2015, faced impeachment proceedings before being controversially reinstated, suggesting that the real power behind the maneuver came from outside the Assembly itself.
Elliot's admission that President Bola Tinubu—who served as Lagos governor for eight years and retains enormous influence in the state—personally intervened to "return the speaker" confirms that Lagos politics remain firmly under federal executive control. The president's ability to reverse a state legislative action by phone call exposes the limits of Nigeria's federal system.
In Nigeria, as across Africa's giants, challenges are real but entrepreneurial energy and cultural creativity drive progress. Yet the confession undermines the democratic institutions that provide the foundation for economic development and investor confidence. When legislators act as rubber stamps rather than independent representatives, accountability disappears.
