Olukayode Salako, the former chairman of the Lagos State Labour Party (LP), has revealed why he believes Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour lost the governorship election.
The LP candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, received 312,329 votes but lost to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received 762,134 votes.
Rhodes-Vivour’s defeat came two weeks after Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi received 582,354 votes to defeat APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, who received 572,606 votes in Lagos during the presidential election.
Salako stated that Rhodes-Vivour’s display of pride to party bigwigs helped Sanwo-Olu win a second term when there was momentum for Rhodes-Vivour to win after Obi’s victory in Lagos.
“After the Labour Party won the presidential election in Lagos, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour began to see himself as the Governor of Lagos,” Salako told Politics HQ on News Central TV.
Salako described Rhodes-Vivour as a characterless individual in a statement days ago, adding that if he had won, he would have messed up Lagos and set its progress back by ten years.
Salako claimed Rhodes-Vivour despised the party’s state executive council and was irritated by anything related to Yoruba people in the party.
“Immediately I gave him the ticket free of charge, without negotiating or charging him to give me anything, he started misbehaving and making unhidden/uncultured moves to push me aside from his project,” Salako said.
“I had thought I would give him the ticket, and the project would be our project. I had thought we would run things together to achieve success together. My avowed mission then was to win Lagos for the Labour Party, so that I can make a name for myself as the State Chairman.
“He is so mannerless, mentally arrogant, proud, full of himself, very deceptive, self-centred, childish; mean-hearted, unforgiving, operationally vindictive and immature in almost everything.”
Salako said Rhodes-Vivour also failed to carry LP’s major stakeholders such as Moshood Salvador, Wale Okuniyi, Professor Pat Utomi, Sumbo Onitiri along after the party had secured victory in the Presidential election in Lagos.