Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour vows to campaign in Yoruba ahead of 2027 Lagos governorship election

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Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Lagos State governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said he will campaign in Yoruba ahead of the 2027 election.

Rhodes-Vivour, who contested the 2023 governorship election under the Labour Party, made the disclosure during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday.

The ADC candidate was responding to questions about his inability to speak Yoruba, an issue that became a major talking point during the 2023 campaign following an interview in which he said he did not “think in Yoruba.”

He said he had since taken steps to learn the language, noting that Yoruba culture and language were important to his engagement with voters across Lagos.

“Culture and language is very important and I’ve gotten a Yoruba teacher, and I’ve learned Yoruba, and I’ll campaign in Yoruba,” Rhodes-Vivour said.

However, he stressed that his campaign would focus on broader issues affecting residents rather than language or ethnic identity.

According to him, problems such as flooding, inadequate housing and traffic affect Lagos residents irrespective of their ethnic or linguistic backgrounds.

“My passionate interest is to ensure that we have a Lagos that no longer stinks,” he said.

Rhodes-Vivour argued that the challenges confronting residents had a common impact across the state, regardless of language.

He said flooding, the housing crisis, traffic congestion and what he described as the loss of dignity among Lagos residents were issues that connected people across different communities.

Rhodes-Vivour came second in the 2023 Lagos governorship election, behind the incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).