The Labour Party (LP) has described the sudden defection of its former Lagos governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as hasty and ill-advised.
Naija News reports that Rhodes-Vivour has formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Speaking shortly after his defection ceremony held in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos, Rhodes-Vivour stated that the ADC represents a strong coalition to rescue Nigeria ahead of the 2027 elections.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday, LP’s interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, said Rhodes-Vivour’s action showed he had jumped the gun and failed to imbibe the political approach of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Akeni argued that Rhodes-Vivour should have taken a cue from Peter Obi, who has continued to engage opposition parties without leaving the LP.
According to him, it was already a settled consensus within the LP that no single opposition party, including itself, could single-handedly dislodge the APC in 2027.
However, he maintained that Rhodes-Vivour’s choice to quit the party was not the way forward.
The statement reads, “Our party’s view is therefore that a rainbow coalition of multi-party colours carrying along Nigeria’s ballot population, driven by a common unifying electorate mobilisation, is what Nigerians need to sack APC and President Bola Tinubu’s dictatorship out of power in 2027.
“This is the patriotic manual that our party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, is working with, and we as the Labour Party are one with him in it. Without defecting, the understanding involves the Labour Party and PO meeting and engaging in broad-based multi-party liaison with all well-meaning opposition political parties.
“Rhodes Vivour should have followed the footsteps of his master. That is what the Labour Party had expected him to do if he were reading well the signs on the wall.
“By jumping the gun and hastily jumping boats, Vivour has shown, from our viewpoint, that he is still to learn some imperative essentials in his young political journey. Politicians who genuinely mean to serve their people should learn to hurry slowly.
“As a political party, the Labour Party wishes him well.”
The post ‘Rhodes-Vivour Jumped The Gun, He Should Have Followed Peter Obi’s Footsteps’ – Labour Party appeared first on Naija News.