UT Reporter
Former Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has defended his defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
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Rhodes -Vivour dismissed claims that he abandoned the LP’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
The politician, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, stated that Obi was fully briefed before his move.
The ex-governorship added that Obi sent a representative to witness his formal declaration in Alimosho area of Lagos on Saturday.
“Certainly, His Excellency was aware. A representative of his was even at the declaration yesterday. His Excellency and I are communicating.
” We are aligned. There’s no step that’s being taken that he’s not aware of,” Rhodes-Vivour said, adding that opposition success in 2027 depends on coalition-building.
His remarks followed criticisms by the Labour Party, which described the defection as premature and ill-considered.
The party’s interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, said in a statement that Rhodes-Vivour “jumped the gun,” noting that Obi has continued to engage opposition parties while remaining within the LP.
According to Akeni, it is already a consensus that no single opposition party can unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027 without a united front.
Rhodes-Vivour had last Saturday formally joined the ADC as part of a broader coalition of opposition parties formed in July.
The alliance, he said, was conceived as a “rescue mission” to challenge the APC in the next general elections.