The Lagos State governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state, asserting that the party has no vision to solve the chronic traffic congestion, housing deficit, and sanitation challenges confronting residents.
Speaking on the radio programme Reflections on Adamimogo 93.1FM, hosted by Sam Olugbeminiyi, Rhodes-Vivour took aim at statements made by current Deputy Governor and Governorship Candidate of the APC, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, arguing that his dismissive public remarks expose a complete lack of policy direction.
He argued that after more than two decades in office, the APC administration has normalised hardship rather than addressing fundamental municipal failures.
“When leaders have no vision, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,” Rhodes-Vivour said. “When a man says traffic is a lifestyle, he has no vision to solve that problem. When a man says young people who cannot afford rent should live in their parents’ houses that means he has no vision for affordable housing.
“All they are saying is, ‘Get used to it; this is Lagos for you.’ They are not here to make your lives better; they are here to continue ruling over this place and taking as much money out of it as possible for a private political corporation.”
Rhodes-Vivour contended that the state’s protracted gridlock and recurring urban waste crises persist because governance is tailored to benefit political godfathers rather than ordinary citizens.
“Lagos is smelling and dirty because of corruption,” he said. “People are stealing the money meant to clean Lagos. You should not be in traffic for four hours and then have someone tell you it is a lifestyle, leaving before your children wake up and returning after they have gone to bed.”
The ADC candidate, who finished as first runner-up in the 2023 governorship election, stated that breaking the cycle of infrastructural neglect requires electing a leader who is not beholden to political patronage.
“We need a government that the people themselves put in office, so that the governor is accountable to them,” he said. “A governor accountable to a godfather will always act in the interest of the godfather, not the people. Whatever the APC has failed to achieve in over 20 years, they cannot achieve in the next four.”
To fix the state’s transport bottlenecks, Rhodes-Vivour pledged to take rail development off the state’s balance sheet, partnering with private investors through transparent procurement to deliver all major rail lines within two and a half years and subsidising off-peak transit for retirees and children.
He also outlined plans to declare a state of emergency on shelter by providing 100,000 affordable housing units in four years, using precast construction modules and recycled building hardcore to keep two-bedroom homes within the N15 million to N17 million price range.
Watch full interview here: https://youtu.be/dp59MJQYbwU?si=wJ7iYCor9pPNQGKw
