By Gideon Njoku
There are, alleged, plans to murder the Labour Party, LP, Governorship Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
This was, to the shock of many, disclosed at a Press Conference on Monday by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
According to George, a Leader of a pro-Lagos Group, “Omo Eko Pataki”, the threat is real, and if Security Agencies do not watch out, the Candidate is about to be given the Funsho Williams treatment.
Williams, a Lagos State Governorship Aspirant in 1999 was gruesomely murdered in his Dolphin, Ikoyi, home. Nobody has been charged in connection with the murder till date.
At the Press Conference, George said there is a serious threat to Rhodes-Vivours life, especially, since after the Candidate of his Labour Party, Peter Obi, defeated the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, to win the Presidential Election in the State.
Said George: “We wish to inform Nigerians about the heinous plan to secretly eliminate the Labour Party Governorship Candidate, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the latest move by the take Lagos occupiers, to take him out of circulation before the election on Saturday.
“It’s not a matter of Party, the essence of life is to protect others. And, I told you that Funso Williams was my younger brother. I was in the Villa when the President, then, called me that ‘I am just getting a report that they have killed Funsho Williams’.
They gave me a Presidential Plane to come down, and I saw his corpse. So, we don’t want it to repeat.
“We, hereby, warn that should anything happen to this vibrant bonafide Lagosian, who fate has thrown up to free our dear State from the strangle hold of marauders, Nigerians should know who to hold.”
George, also, revealed that there is a grand design to provoke Nigerians into big crisis.
He said: “As we speak, there are grand designs to provoke the peace-loving Nigerians, whose resolve is to effect, through the ballot box on Saturday, as threats are being issued against voters suspected to be willing to vote against incumbency.
“To this disposition, we the Omo Eko Pataki, say it is the most heinous crime against humanity in this 21st century, and condemn such in all its entirety.
“We reject this politics of annihilation of innocent Nigerians, which seek to create anarchy and provoke the anger of the citizenry. We wish to remind all non-Lagosians agents of Lagos State Government, that Nigerians have lived together in peace, irrespective of any political party in power.”
Appealing to Lagosians to troop out en masse and vote, and to the Independent National Electoral Commission to be transparent, George, a retired Naval Commodore said: “We equally urge the electorate in Lagos to go out in their numbers on Saturday, to vote against the plundering that has bedeviled our prosperous State for over two decades as adequate security is assured to everyone out to exercise their civic responsibility.
“We, also, call on INEC to ensure the use of a transformational BVAS regime, for the transparency of the exercise, a departure from the February 25 archaic system, where result sheets were moved manually from Polling Units.”
Bode George’s Group has been in the vanguard of those alleging that the State has been in the stranglehold of, mostly, non-Lagosians. They hold the now President- elect, Bola Tinubu, responsible. Every election year, the Group tries, but has never been successful.
February 25, 2023, was the first time Tinubu’s Party lost Lagos. It is left to see if the Labour Party which Candidate defeated Tinubu will be able to perform the same feat on Saturday, March 11, 2023, in the Governorship election.
Many people think the only way to that may be a merger between George’s PDP and LP against Saturday. He said there have been discussions, but was not specific.
He, however, submitted; “24 hours in politics is a very long time. People are discussing at various levels from Abuja to Local Government because everybody has realized that the electorate is bigger than card-carrying members of your Party.”
Months ago, Bode George said he would go on exile if Tinubu wins the Presidential Election. INEC has just declared him winner. So, is George leaving or staying, especially, if Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour does not win the Governorship election? Time will tell.
