The gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has hit out at those labelling him as being inexperienced for the governorship seat of Lagos. He also took a swipe at the All Progressives Congress accusing the ruling party of underperforming since it came into office.
Speaking on Thursday during an interview appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, GRV, as he is fondly known, said the administration of Lateef Jakande, the first civilian governor of Lagos, from October 1979 to December 1983 achieved more than the APC has done since it came into office in 1999, when the ruling party was known as the Alliance for Democracy.
Rhodes-Vivour, who made the submission while defending allegations that he doesn’t have any public service experience, argued that Jakande also never had public service experience before becoming governor but performed excellently well in office.
“Alhaji Lateef Jakande never had any public sector experience but what he achieved in four years the APC government has not achieved in two decades,” said Rhodes-Vivour, who also cited Obafemi Awolowo as an example to further emphasize that public service experience is not necessary to achieve good governance.
“The visionary leader, Obafemi Awolowo, he had no public sector or governance experience but he moved the interest of the Yorubas to a level that people are still trying to aspire to. The fact is you must have empathy, self-capacity and courage to do the right thing.”
GRV added: “This (APC) government (in Lagos) has run unaccountably for over two decades. They’ve empowered agberos, touts and thugs with so much violence. And they have not been brought to book.”
Source: Guardian
