The pan‑Yoruba socio‑political group Afenifere endorsed the Lagos State Labour Party governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes‑Vivour, on Wednesday. Supo Shonibare, the group’s state chairman, said Rhodes‑Vivour would make a huge difference if elected as the next governor. Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, Shonibare linked the party’s recent presidential victory to Afenifere’s principled stance on equity, inclusiveness, fairness and justice. He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that voting and result uploading through the BVAS system run smoothly and in real time for the governorship election scheduled for Saturday, 11 March.
Shonibare called on all men and women of goodwill to turn out en masse on Saturday to vote for “Architect Gbadebo Rhodes‑Vivour – a scion of the illustrious Rhodes‑Vivour family of Lagos, whose ancestry and pivotal contribution to the affairs of Lagos date back five generations.” He asserted that Rhodes‑Vivour would address the current morass of brigandage, opportunism, impunity and prebendary, restoring the cherished Lagos values embodied in the Omoluabi ethic of fellow feeling, dignity and nobility of spirit. He also highlighted that all Labour Party candidates for the Lagos State House of Assembly are natural workmates of the governorship candidate, and that their teamwork would ensure a result‑oriented administration, ending years of desultory governance in the state.
Shonibare appealed to local and international observers, as well as voters, to monitor the conduct of security agencies and document any infractions. He urged Lagos residents to disregard false narratives about “taking over Lagos,” emphasizing that Lagos is not a no‑man’s land but a Yoruba territory. He warned against provocative social‑media posts, often spread by agent provocateurs, that aim to sow disunity between Yoruba and Igbo residents. He noted that Igbos voted for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the Southeast, just as many Yoruba voted for Mr Peter Obi in Lagos and other Southwest states.
Present at the briefing were members of the Committee of Indigenes of Lagos State supporting the Rhodes‑Vivour and Princess Oyefusi governorship and deputy‑governorship bids, as well as Mr Rhodes‑Vivour Senior, the candidate’s father. Shonibare urged Lagosians to ignore the virulent attacks on Mr Rhodes‑Vivour and the false narrative of an Igbo takeover, stressing that Rhodes‑Vivour is a Yoruba man whose great‑grandfather was one of the indigenous founders of new Lagos after colonialism. He reiterated that Lagos is a Yoruba territory, not a no‑man’s land.
Finally, Shonibare affirmed that a Rhodes‑Vivour government would be composed of indigenous Lagosians while guaranteeing basic rights for all ethnic groups and foreign residents. This inclusive approach, he said, would enable everyone to contribute to the continued growth of Lagos, the fifth‑largest economy in Africa.
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