Desmond Elliot Gets Candid About His Political Start, Colleague Rivalry, and Surviving the #EndSARS Unrest
Desmond Elliot—well-known actor turned lawmaker—recently opened up about the unexpected turns that brought him into politics, and some of the emotional moments that came with the journey.
In a sit-down with Chude Jideonwo, Desmond shared a throwback story many hadn’t heard before. According to him, it all started when Adams Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo State, introduced him to Bola Tinubu. That moment, he says, changed everything.
“One day, Oshiomhole took me to Asiwaju and said, ‘This is my son—he’s interested in politics,’” Desmond recalled. “Asiwaju saw me and said he knew me already. He was warm. I felt like I’d just been accepted into a new family.”
Fast forward to 2023, Desmond found himself running for another term in the Lagos State House of Assembly—but this time, the competition came from a familiar face: fellow actor Olumide Oworu.
Was he mad about it? Not quite. “I wasn’t upset with him,” he admitted. “But I felt let down by some of the older colleagues who supported him. That part hurt.”
He didn’t stop there. The conversation also drifted into darker memories—specifically, the tense and emotional days of the #EndSARS protests.
Desmond recounted how, during the height of the protests, he got stuck inside his constituency office in Surulere. A curfew had just been declared, and heading home wasn’t an option. The streets were chaotic, and danger felt too close.
“I couldn’t leave,” he said. “That night was rough. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
The protests, sparked by frustration with police brutality, brought Nigeria to a standstill. As emotions ran high, a clip of Desmond during a legislative session went viral—he had referred to Nigerian youth as “children.” The internet did not take it lightly. He was dragged across social media and quickly became the poster child for online backlash.
“People came for me hard,” he admitted. “I became the face of everything people were angry about.”
But behind the headlines and Twitter memes, Desmond’s journey reflects the blend of passion, pain, and politics that many public figures in Nigeria walk through.
Love him or not, one thing is clear—Desmond Elliot has lived through moments that have shaped both his career and his character.
