Re: On the questionable candidacy of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour

BY SEGUN ADEBANJO

Yesterday, March 6, 2023, TheCable Newspaper published what appeared to be a hit piece from a detractor named Adesoki Oluwo. The obvious aim of this shallow and poorly written article is to throw a spanner in the wheel of Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour’s campaign. Unfortunately for them, this ship has sailed and the people of Lagos, especially workers, young people, and honest entrepreneurs, have pitched their tent with the only candidate who is guaranteed to improve their lives.

Oluwo attempts to reframe the issues around the emergence of Gbadebo as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party to determine whether he is qualified to contest the forthcoming gubernatorial election.

He writes that “this intervention is to interrogate the legal issues involving the qualification of candidates; compliance of the party to the Electoral Act and its party constitution and guidelines in the nomination of candidates and presentation of false documents to INEC”.

For clarity, before Oluwo found his rented pen, Chief Ifagbemi Awamaridi had approached the federal high court on similar grounds seeking to challenge the legitimacy of the process that saw Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour emerge as the Labour Party’s gubernatorial flag bearer.

Expectedly, the court ruled against him in a well-considered decision and affirmed the candidacy of Rhodes Vivour. Unwilling to accept the wish of his party and the conclusion of the federal high court, Chief Awamaridi appealed the ruling of the federal high court at the court of appeal. Summarily, the case was dismissed and struck out at the appeal court after falling short of the pre-election practice direction 2022.

As of today, there is no valid appeal pending in any court against the candidature of Rhodes Vivour. Worth mentioning, also, is that Awamaridi was the former candidate of the Labour Party but by a letter directed to the national chairman of the party dated 18th June 2022, he withdrew his candidacy as the governorship candidate of the party. Afterwards, a substitution primary election (keenly contested between Alhaji Moshood Salvador and GRV) was held in Lagos and monitored by INEC. This substitution primary led to the emergence of GRV.

Having established the facts around the emergence of GRV as the duly nominated candidate of the Labour Party, it is equally important to address some of the egregious insinuations made by Jandor, the PDP candidate, on Channels Television yesterday. His point about section 71(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 betrays his lack of understanding of the internal party process and is a sign of desperation. Jandor is not a member of the Labour Party, and that section only provides for a function only exercisable by the Labour Party, which has been duly performed.

Understandably, the PDP candidate, just like his counterpart in the APC, is jittery. It is evident from their internal polls, public engagements, and the political atmosphere that GRV will win Saturday’s gubernatorial election overwhelmingly.

For Jandor, even a chieftain of his party and former governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, stated clearly on television that “it is shame on Jandor’s Party to have gathered only about 70,000 votes in the presidential election whilst GRV’s Party, the Labour Party gathered over 600,000 votes and ultimately won Lagos for HE Peter Obi”.

And for those who have shamelessly chosen ethnic profiling as a major campaign strategy, the results on Saturday will be a shocking reminder that you cannot fool all the people all the time.

This election is about the candidate that has a heart for the people, not the one who boycotts debates, wastes the resources of the state on the presidential ambition of his principal and fails to keep his promises to the people who once elected him. It’s a new dawn in Lagos and the people are desperate for change. Thankfully a credible alternative has emerged and this Saturday will be his coronation.

Segun Adebanjo is the director-general of Rhodes Vivour’s campaign. He can be reached via [email protected]