Lagos Guber Race Heats Up As Labour Party Gets Boost From Presidential Poll

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour’s election campaign has been energised following last Saturday’s presidential election result that saw his presidential candidate, Peter Obi, floor his counterpart in the ruling party of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu (now president-elect), in his home state.

The 39-year-old governorship hopeful, who has stepped up his campaign drive, called on Lagosians, especially the youths, not to be deterred by the outcome of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, but to come out en masse and vote out the ruling APC in the guber and state assemblies’ polls.

Riding on the victory of his party in Lagos State during the presidential polls, Rhodes-Vivour is currently trending on social media platforms with reactions trailing his performance in the debate organised by The Platform, a civic discussion initiative of The Covenant Centre (the Covenant Christian Centre).

Speaking on the just-concluded presidential election, Gbadebo said his party won in places where the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has never won in two decades such as Alimosho, Ikeja, and several other places.

He also said the victory of the Labour Party in Lagos State is not along tribal lines.

According to him, “This was not a tribal victory. We won in places where the opposition has never won in two decades; we won in Alimosho, we won in Ikeja and several other places.” 

He said Mr Peter Obi’s votes in Lagos were manipulated because results weren’t electronically transmitted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The LP candidate claimed that his party won over 900,000 votes and this was because the youths came out.

Gbadebo, who rejected the process by which the results were announced because it was not done electronically as promised by INEC, said: “From our situation room, we see that we won over 900,000 votes and this was all because you came out.

“This was won without any voter inducement. We cannot stop thanking the good people of Lagos. We made history in that election; we took Lagos State and restored it to the people.

“We unequivocally reject the process by which the results were announced because it was not electronical as promised by INEC,” he said.

Rhodes-Vivour, who said the turnout of voters in Lagos State in Saturday’s election was unprecedented, expressed confidence that he is going to unseat Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC on March 11 at the polls.

The LP flag bearer shared his plans for curbing insecurity, citing youth unemployment as a menace and the major driver of political violence in the state.

He promised to ensure that young people get employability skills that will be domiciled in the local government areas, adding that his government will put an end to police harassment.

Meanwhile, Sanwo-Olu, the APC governor of Lagos State, who pulled out of a Lagos State Governorship Debate because he did not want to share the stage with an unnamed contestant, following the defeat of his party’s presidential candidate in the state, has asked residents to remain peaceful and accommodate differing views.

In a series of posts on Twitter on Thursday, Sanwo-Olu said he acknowledged the feelings of the people, noting that emotions were running high across the country.

He said it is the beauty of democracy that people are allowed to hold different opinions.

The governor, finding succour in Tinubu’s emergence as President-elect, urged the people of Lagos to unite and continue to push for the development of the state.

Before now, there has not been what Lagosians consider a true contest for the position of the state governorship seat at the polls since the ruling APC took the reins of the state in 1999.

The political battle which has always been between the ruling APC and the leading opposition party, PDP, is now going to witness a third force that will give the ruling party a fierce battle in the March 11 governorship election.

While it is only expected that APC will go all out to make amends for the presidential election upset, LP is riding high on the wings of same upsets it caused across the country. March 11 is another D-Day.  

Source: Vanguard

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