‘Where Is the Record?’ — Lagos APC Challenges Rhodes-Vivour, Gbadamosi

Kehinde Adeleye

The battle lines for the 2027 Lagos governorship election are already taking shape, with the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, launching a sharp attack on the newly unveiled African Democratic Congress, ADC, ticket of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Babatunde Gbadamosi.

Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Seye Oladejo, described the opposition combination as a “political experiment” and questioned whether the two candidates have the governing experience and political structure required to administer Lagos.

Oladejo, in a statement on Thursday, said Lagos was not an “internship centre” for political experimentation, arguing that running the state required experience in handling its bureaucracy, finances and complex infrastructure.

His message to the ADC ticket was blunt: winning an election campaign and governing Lagos are two different propositions.

“Where is the record of managing a state bureaucracy or supervising a state budget?” Oladejo asked.

He also questioned the political journeys of the two ADC candidates, pointing to their previous participation in different political parties.

According to Oladejo, Rhodes-Vivour previously contested under the KOWA Party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party before emerging as the ADC candidate, while Gbadamosi had contested under the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party, ANRP, Action Democratic Party, ADP, and PDP.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with political evolution, but party-hopping is not political institution-building,” Oladejo said.

The APC spokesman acknowledged Rhodes-Vivour’s performance in the 2023 Lagos governorship election, when he finished second with 312,329 votes behind Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who polled 762,134 votes.

But Oladejo argued that a strong electoral showing should not automatically be equated with experience in administering a state.

He challenged the ADC candidates to go beyond campaign visibility and spell out how they intend to finance, implement and sustain their proposed programmes if elected.

The challenge comes as Rhodes-Vivour presents himself as a more politically experienced candidate than he was in 2023. In July, he told Channels Television that his political structure had expanded since the last election and that the “Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of 2023” was different from the candidate entering the 2027 contest.

The ADC ticket has therefore set up an early clash over more than campaign promises, with the ruling party questioning the opposition candidates’ governing credentials while Rhodes-Vivour and Gbadamosi seek to present their coalition as a credible alternative.

Oladejo said the Lagos APC was ready for the contest but warned against confusing campaign activity with governing capacity.

“The Lagos APC welcomes the Rhodes-Vivour/Gbadamosi ticket — let the contest begin,” he said.

“However, the opposition should not expect Lagosians to confuse political noise with political strength, or electoral ambition with governing capacity.”

The 2027 contest is still months away, but the exchange signals that the campaign battle in Lagos is already moving beyond the unveiling of candidates to questions of experience, political organisation, policy proposals and the capacity to govern.