The 2023 governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, says his leadership style will be remarkably different from what Lagosians currently experience under the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Rhodes-Vivour described himself as a servant leader, saying he would lead Lagosians from the front and not from his office when he became the Governor of Lagos State.
In an exclusive interview with Vanguard, the 42-year-old politician vowed that his government would use the state resources to improve the lives of the people rather than spending them on jets or brand-new cars.
He said if the current economic realities continue under his leadership as a governor, he would keep using his vehicles.
“If things are difficult, I’m not going to use my money to be buying jets or buying many brand new cars. I will use my personal vehicle because I understand how difficult things are currently. I must use the resources we have to maximise the lives and cultural lives of other negotiations.”
Gbadebo criticised the lack of accountability and transparency in government spending, emphasising that there must be a process for citizens to see how their resources are used.
“If the government is saying that we do not have money, it should reflect in how the government spends his money. If the government is calling for transparency and accountability, he must also be transparent and accountable. You must have a process by which the negotiation the citizen, can easily see how money is being spent on line by line basis.”
He also criticised the practice in which state governments budget N45 million for a vehicle that goes for N10 million in the market.
“You start to understand that the politics and the way they they’re doing governance is just an SPV to maximise their returns and money for themselves, their cronies and their family,” he said.
He, therefore, called on the Lagos State Government to emulate China by investing in human capacity development to lift millions of Lagosians out of poverty.
“Look at what China did. In less than 40 years, they’ve lifted millions of people up out of poverty by investment in human capacity development, investment infrastructure, investment in the quality of life and skillset that these people have,” the LP politician said.
VANGUARD.
