•Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, says his vision is to make an impact that will enhance the quality of life of Lagosians.
Rhodes-Vivour, who was a guest on Channels Television, said integrity sets him apart from the party currently in power, adding that he would not pad budgets if elected.
“My vision is to make impact and enhance the quality of life of Lagosians. I am not here to run a business, I am not here to run a company. I am here to impact maximally the quality of lives of Lagosians and that is where the difference is, and that is where integrity comes in, I don’t pad budgets, I am not a thief.
“Look at all the budgets that you see, a generator that cost 16 million they are putting it as 160 million in the budget. The present governor, we read that air freshener was 2 billion, he said it was a typo, that it’s 20 million,” Rhodes-Vivour said.
The ADC governorship candidate expressed confidence that Lagosians would support him, saying he has remained consistent in his ideas on how to move the state forward.
‘We Need To Address Issues’
Rhodes-Vivour also responded to questions from the camps of his opponents over his ability to speak Yoruba and his family origin.
He said he would campaign in Yoruba when necessary, but would not allow such issues to distract him from what he described as the serious challenges facing Lagos.
“I have always said language, culture are extremely important and we will campaign when we need to campaign. But we need to address these issues that are affecting many Lagosians.”
He said the most important thing was understanding the issues affecting the people, stressing that everything else was a distraction.
“And what I find with the APC is they strategically consistently make us major on the minors and we don’t deal with the real issues affecting Lagosians. So, in this campaign season I will always bring it back to the issues. I am not going to allow any distractions, you can call me any name you like, lie about my family heritage and all of that, it is fine.”
“My family, language, all of that is not going to change the situation that people are facing in traffic.”
‘We Are More Prepared For 2027’
On the choice of Babatunde Gbadamosi as his deputy governorship candidate, Rhodes-Vivour said, “He is a fantastic gentleman, brilliant, he is somebody that I really admire, he has been consistent and I think that he will be able to bring the impact that you need to change Lagos.”
Rhodes-Vivour received 312,329 votes on the platform of the Labour Party in the 2023 governorship election, coming second behind Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who garnered 762,134 votes to be declared the winner.
He, however, said he did not accept the figures, alleging intimidation and suppression of voters during the election.
The ADC candidate maintained that the 2023 election results did not reflect the will of Lagosians.
He said they are more prepared for the 2027 election than they were in 2023, adding that they would not be intimidated or bullied.
