Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour says Labour Party’s internal crises have crippled its 2027 prospects, insisting only a coalition with Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar’s supporters can defeat the APC.
Former Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has declared that the party is too divided to replicate its 2023 performance, stressing that only a coalition can unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Rhodes-Vivour said his decision to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was driven by a broader coalition agenda rather than a departure from the LP. “I do not describe it as leaving the Labour Party. I would describe it as joining the coalition,” he said, noting that many pro-coalition LP members remain aligned with him.
He argued that when the votes of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi are combined, they surpass President Bola Tinubu’s tally in 2023. “The opposition cannot afford to be divided. This is when there is seriousness about forming a government,” he added.
The former LP candidate criticised internal wrangling and conflicting primaries within the party, describing it as “a house divided against itself.” According to him, the 2023 momentum was sustained mainly by Obi’s supporters, not the LP structure.
Rhodes-Vivour reaffirmed his alignment with Obi but warned against distractions through ethnic propaganda. He said, “They are using tribes as a distraction. Instead of coming together to demand better governance, they engineer division.”
On 2027, he insisted that coalition politics and grassroots organisation would be decisive, adding, “We have already broken APC’s dominance in Lagos. What is left is to plan at the micro-level.”