The Labour Party’s governorship candidate in the 2023 Lagos State election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has pointed to systemic violence and voter intimidation as the primary reasons for his defeat to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a reflective post shared via X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Rhodes-Vivour emphasized that widespread violence targeted at certain groups of voters disrupted the democratic process and undermined the will of the people.
“When you have normalized violence against a group of people, eventually that violence should meet you,” he said, drawing attention to patterns of voter suppression during the elections.
He cited events at the Lagos State House of Assembly, where he claimed that despite overwhelming support for a different representative, the people’s mandate was quashed through coercion.
“You look at what happened in the State Assembly where a majority, more than 90% of them, decided that they wanted someone else to speak on their behalf, to represent them, and they went through the entire process. They voted, they stood their ground, despite intimidation, despite the force that was used against them,” he said.
Okay.ng reports that Rhodes-Vivour’s remarks reflect lingering concerns over electoral transparency and fairness in Nigeria’s commercial capital. He maintained that the culture of violence, intimidation, and voter suppression remains a major threat to democratic participation in the state.
“It’s a culture of violence, and intimidation and voter suppression and I think that the main obstacle for me in 2023 elections,” he concluded.
The 2023 Lagos gubernatorial race was hotly contested, with Rhodes-Vivour emerging as a popular alternative among younger and reform-minded voters. However, the final results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned Sanwo-Olu as the winner.
