Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, 2023 Lagos governorship aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party, has promised that if elected governor of the state, his administration will embark on people oriented policies that put Lagosians first.

“What has continued to happen in Lagos is a situation where the state is being run like a Chicago mafia-style model, where people get into power on the back of one man who uses them for his own ambition,” Mr Rhodes-Vivour said in an interview with Peoples Gazette.

The aspiring governor who was an active participant in the #EndSARS movement, and has been at the forefront of youth involvement in politics, as well as the campaign against voter apathy, said the Lagos government was being governed by proxy by one man. He also said that the APC had for a long time underestimated the masses in the state.

“Most of the masses may not be able to speak sophisticated English but they have needs, know their worth and also have aspirations. My campaign is based on empathy and the understanding that we have to put Lagosians first,” Mr Rhodes-Vivour said.

The politician said he was running for governor to change the way Lagos was being governed. “My job as a leader is to help Lagosians meet their aspirations. The fact that we are able to generate so much wealth from many people in Lagos, we should have programmes that are people oriented. That has not been the case with APC.”

Continuing, he added: “Look at the amount of taxes the Iya Oloja is collecting from markets, from computer village, and the taxes that the state is collecting, what has the government put in place for the millions of Lagosians helping it make this money? 

“Or is it the money from the NURTW. Not long ago, BusinessDay did an analysis that shows that the money generated by the union dwarfs that of three states in Nigeria combined. Now, what programmes are there for members of the NURTW, as opposed to this money going to the MC Oluomo’s, local government chairmen and Tinubu?”

Mr Rhodes-Vivour said he was confident that now was the time for power to change hands. He said with the changes to Nigeria’s electoral laws, the aftermath of the EndSARS protests, that Lagosians were set to take back the state from the grip of one man.

“Power changes hands around every twenty years. There’s a reason that is so. Every twenty years people or organisations get so power drunk that they think they are untouchable and start making mistakes that normally they wouldn’t make.

“What happened with the EndSARS protest in Lekki, the shooting of unarmed protesters by security agencies was a mistake that the APC wouldn’t have made some years back. I mean these were the same people behind the Occupy Nigeria protest.

“The reason why Lagos has been held for many years by one man and one party is due to voter apathy. I’ve been fighting this for several years, and I think Lagosians are ready now to put an end to a situation where one man rules the state by proxy,” he said.