THE Labour Party (LP) Governorship Candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, says voter security and safety are vital in the next March 18 election, adding that any form of voter intimidation and harassment will be met with resistance.
“My focus now is on security and ensuring that people come out to vote and they are not intimidated or harassed because any form of intimidation or harassment will be met with resistance. It’s just that simple,” Rhodes-Vivour said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme today.
Thugs attacked voters and interrupted the election process in Elegushi, Ikate, and other parts of Lagos on February 25. According to police, about 20 political thugs were arrested, in connection with acts of electoral violence and ballot box snatching during the recently ended presidential and National Assembly elections.
He also stated that the postponing of the gubernatorial and state assembly elections from March 11 to March 18 has not dampened his desire to become Lagos’ next governor.
“It is not about rushing an election; it is about getting it right and that is why we got the injunction to ensure that INEC actually follows its processes. There are a lot of things that must be done right if we want to get this country on the right path,” he said.
The LP governorship candidate, on the other hand, stated that following the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) would have to earn his trust.
According to Rhodes-Vivour, the people of Lagos desire effective administration regardless of the language a leader speaks or the clan to which he belongs. He stated that he is a true cosmopolitan Lagosian with Yoruba ancestors and education from the best institutions in the world.
According to the LP candidate, Lagos has always existed in unity, but politicians use ethnicity to separate the state’s people.
He said, “Lagos State has been in harmony for a long time. What happens is politicians try to divide us. Let us be wary of politicians who remember that they are Yoruba when it is time for politics. When Fulani herdsmen were making incursions into Oyo and people like Sunday Igboho, Rotimi Akeredolu stood up, a lot of politicians in Lagos were quiet. They played politics with it.
“When it was time for Amotekun, they were quiet. They were quiet on so many interests of the Yoruba people because they wanted an alliance with the north. So, they put their political interest above the interest of their people. And all of a sudden, it is election time and they are reminding you that this person does not speak Yoruba.”
“All the agberos on the streets that are wasting their lives, young men that are getting on drugs and are multiplying for years, do they meet the ones that are Yorubas and rehabilitate them, get them off the streets and ensure that they are more productive members of the society?” he queried.
