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The Labour Party has broken its silence on the defection of its 2023 Lagos State governorship candidate, Rhodes Gbadebo Vivour, to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing the move as hasty and out of step with the wider opposition strategy being championed by its presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi.

In a press statement signed by the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Prince Tony Akeni, the Labour Party said the development had generated “a stream of enquiries from the media, public and party faithfuls across Nigeria,” necessitating a formal response.

Akeni explained that the Labour Party leadership holds a firm consensus that defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027 cannot be achieved by a single opposition party. “It is a settled consensus of the leadership of the Labour Party that a single opposition political party, including the LP, facing elections against Tinubu’s APC tyranny in 2027 may come short of victory. This is for apparent and well-known reasons,” he declared.

According to him, the party’s preferred pathway is a united opposition front, or what he described as “a rainbow coalition of multi-party colours carrying along Nigeria’s ballot population, driven by a common unifying electorate mobilization.” He added that this coalition framework is “the patriotic manual that our party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, His Excellency Peter Obi, is working with, and we as Labour Party are one with him in it.”

The party stressed that Obi’s decision not to defect to any other platform was a deliberate choice grounded in strategy. “This is the wisdom guiding our 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi not to declare defection to or outrightly enlist membership of ADC, PDP or any other political platform than the only one he can truly call his own, the Labour Party,” Akeni said, adding that Vivour should have “followed the footsteps of his master.”

On Vivour’s defection, the Labour Party expressed disappointment, saying it was evidence of inexperience. “By jumping the gun and hastily jumping boats, Vivour has shown, from our viewpoint, that he is still to learn some imperative essentials in his young political journey. Politicians who genuinely mean to serve their people should learn to hurry slowly,” the statement read.

The Labour Party, however, reaffirmed its goodwill toward its former candidate, saying: “As a political party, Labour Party wishes him well.”

Reiterating its commitment to restoring Nigeria’s democratic vibrancy, the party vowed to continue building alliances until a “confluence of all the progressive opposition political forces” emerges to take “critical decisions” about the 2027 presidential race. It added that such a coalition would also ensure that “the most viable and potential ballot winning governorship candidate in each state of the federation, irrespective of political party platform or flag,” would be supported.

In closing, Akeni accused the APC government under President Tinubu of attempting to “stamp out and destroy” multi-party democracy, warning that only a united opposition can stop what he described as the regime’s “apparent goal of one-party state capture.”

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