Would a new sheriff be in town by March 18 or not? Such uncertainties would be dispelled by the upcoming governorship election.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour’s chances of becoming governor improved after Obi defeated Tinubu, Sanwo-political Olu’s mentor, in the Lagos presidential election and received the most votes. Several political specialists were taken aback by this.
The 40-year-old governorship candidate, who has stepped up his campaign, urged Lagosians, particularly youths, not to be discouraged by the outcome of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, but to vote out the ruling APC in the guber and state assembly elections.
Rhodes-Vivour is currently trending on social media sites, with reactions trailing his participation in the debate presented by The Platform, a civic conversation programme of The Covenant Centre (the Covenant Christian Centre).
In early February, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai dismissed the Labour Party candidate as a Nollywood actor who couldn’t go anywhere, but a few months later, the statement rang false as Tinubu and Atiku each won 12 states, while Obi won 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
One of the most surprising results of the election was Obi’s victory in Lagos State over Tinubu of the APC. Tinubu, a former governor of the state, has remained the godfather of Lagos politics since 1999, and not even the state’s primary opposition party, the PDP, has been able to defeat it in national, state, or local government elections. Several observers called the LP’s victory in Lagos “phenomenal,” considering the state has been governed by the APC—and the Alliance for Democracy, Action Congress, and Action Congress of Nigeria, which merged to form the APC in 2013—since 1999.
Nigerians would expect a free and fair election by March 18th, 2023, which would pit the Labour Party and the APC against one another and provide answers concerning whether or not the existing political structure in Lagos would be dethroned
Breakdown of the Labour Party’s victory over the APC in Lagos
The Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, defeated his All Progressives Congress colleague and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, in Saturday’s presidential election. Obi triumphed in parts of the state’s 20 local government units, including areas that were previously regarded to be major APC strongholds.
Obi got votes in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Amuwo-Odofin, Eti-Osa, Ikeja, Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu, Ojo, and Alimosho, totaling 582,454 votes. Tinubu, on the other hand, received 572,606 votes from Agege, Apapa, Badagry, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu, Mushin, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, and Surulere. Although winning two more local governments in the state than the LP candidate, Tinubu was defeated by Obi by a margin of 9,848 votes.
Read also: Rhodes-Vivour remains LP guber candidate in Lagos – Legal team clarifies
What’s more, Obi crushed Tinubu in his Ikeja Local Government Area, where he voted, and also floored him in his Eti-Osa Local Government Area, where he homes, and appears to have constructed a political fortress in Ikoyi.
See the full breakdown of votes from all the 20 local government areas below:
Who is Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the individual tasked with dethroning Lagos’ current political structure?
Dismissing the assumption that the Labour Party’s gubernatorial candidate is relatively unknown. The Rhodes-Vivour family is well-known in Lagos. He has ancestors who can be traced all the way back to the 18th century. Let’s look at his family’s history. William Vivour was born in the year 1830. He was a Yoruba slave who was transported to Sierra Leone. He would eventually return to his natal home, bearing the name “Vivour”. The term “survivor” shortened.
Many persons who were carried away from Lagos as slaves did not survive. William had survived. He died at the age of 60 in 1890. Justice Akinwunmi Rhodes-Vivour, who was born in 1910 and died in 1987, is his grandpa. Akinwumi Rhodes Vivour was the older brother of World War II veteran Bankole Vivour (1920-1944).
“Bankole Vivour is the father of Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, who was born in 1951, and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in Lagos State. These are men who have carried on the family name and history for generations. He hails from Lagos Island and went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Nottingham, and the University of Lagos for his education. In the hands of a true Lagosian, Lagos is safer.”
Nigerians would expect a free and fair election by March 18th, 2023, which would pit the Labour Party and the APC against one another and provide answers concerning whether or not the existing political structure in Lagos would be dethroned.
