The 2023 gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, on Monday defended his decision to defect to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Speaking on Arise Television, Rhodes-Vivour said the move is part of efforts to strengthen a coalition aimed at unseating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.

He, however, dismissed claims that he dumped the LP, stressing that the opposition was working to build a broad-based alliance.

Rhodes-Vivour, who contested against Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the 2023 polls, declared his intention to run again in 2027, expressing optimism that the coalition would provide the platform to challenge the APC’s dominance.

He added that the coalition had attracted formidable figures from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  the APC, and the LP, insisting that the opposition in Lagos was more united and better prepared ahead of the next election.

Rhodes-Vivour also decried a recent incident where the police allegedly prevented his coalition from holding a rally at a paid-for venue, only to allow the APC to use the same ground days later.

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He said, “I would not say I dumped LP because, as you know, the Labour Party is divided into two particular factions. One of such factions is pro-coalition.

“A coalition is a coming together of several political parties, several political thinkers, and the ADC is the party that has been adopted by the coalition.

“So I cannot come on here and say I dumped the Labour Party. No, we are focused on building a robust coalition. And yes, I am a registered member of the ADC.

“I’ve said this several times, by the grace of God, I intend to run in the next election, 2027. My confidence is in the people. The people have shown their strength in 2023. We’ve stayed on ground.

“We’ve built networks in communities. We’ve learned from mistakes, and we’re still learning. The good thing about coalitions is you’re building your support base, you’re building more contacts and more stakeholders to be able to have a more formidable campaign.

“We got the approvals. We got the letter. We made the payment. On Thursday they came and occupied the venue. On Saturday, the police supervised and protected the APC to do a rally at the same place that I paid for.

“The Commissioner of Police needs to explain why that happened. The job of the police is to protect the citizens, not to determine who can do what, when, and how.”