Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour says he will contest the Lagos
governorship election in 2027.
Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate
in Lagos during the 2023 election, spoke during an interview on Gold Room
anchored by Iyabo Ojo, a Nollywood actress.
The former LP governorship candidate said he would fix the
trend of opposition parties fading into silence post-election.
“By God’s grace (I will run for governorship again in 2027).
We are working. We gained a lot of traction, saw our mistakes. We saw the
loopholes we made, and we’re working on that,” he said.
“I think the biggest mistake that has happened in Lagos
politics is after elections, the opposition goes quiet. That is not happening
this time.
“We’re in people’s faces. We’re doing our best in terms of
health outreaches. We have a micro health insurance plan that we’re taking all
across the state where people can get treatment of up to N6,000 for free.
“And just being up-to-date to current affairs and holding
the government accountable, calling out when the government is spending our
monies in extravagant ways, regardless of the suffering that Nigerians are
dealing with.”
Rhodes-Vivour also asked for accountability from Babajide Sanwo-Olu,
governor of Lagos.
“So, with the level of suffering that Nigerians are dealing
with, Lagosians are dealing with, we need to have accountability and
transparency, and our government must be using our money in the most efficient
way possible,” he added.
“And that is the work of opposition. So when opposition does
that, then the people benefit.”
BACKGROUND
In March 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) declared Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the March 18 Lagos governorship
election.
Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest
challenger, Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes.
Abdulazeez Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
came a distant third with 62,449 votes.
On September 25, 2023, the Lagos governorship election
tribunal dismissed Rhodes-Vivour’s suit which sought to nullify Sanwo-Olu’s
election.
Displeased with the verdict, the LP candidate filed 21
grounds of appeal challenging the judgment of the tribunal.
In November 2023, the court of appeal in Lagos dismissed
Rhodes-Vivour’s appeal.
The court of appeal upheld the decision of the tribunal on
the rejection of Rhodes-Vivour’s witness, who gave testimony on the alleged
renunciation of Nigerian citizenship by Obafemi Hamzat, deputy governor of
Lagos.
The supreme court later affirmed Sanwo-Olu as the duly
elected governor of Lagos state.
‘CRITICS OF TINUBU’S
CONTROL IN LAGOS HAVE THEIR YORUBA IDENTITY TAKEN AWAY’
Rhodes-Vivour also said those who challenge President Bola
Tinubu’s control in Lagos usually have their Yoruba identity taken away.
Tinubu served as governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007.
“Firstly, anybody that questions the hegemony of Bola Ahmed
Tinubu or the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) always has their Yoruba identity
questioned or taken from them,” he said.
“I don’t even think he (Tinubu) is a good representative of
their ethnicity.
“I don’t believe he can epitomise the Yoruba people compared
to the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
“We practice an Agberocracy — it’s about violence — who can
spend the most money, who can manipulate and tell lies the most, propaganda.
“For me, as a culture, if this is who we are looking at as
our representative, we’ve fallen very badly.”
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