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Gboyega Akosile

07.03.2023 Featured Gboyega Akosile, Bola Ilori… APC Leaders Playing the Ethnic Card in Lagos

Published 7th Mar, 2023

By Joseph Adeiye

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has supported xenophobic and untrue remarks against gubernatorial election opposition in Lagos, FIJ can confirm.

FIJ has found that party leaders in the APC posted divisive messages to followers in Lagos.

One of those who employed ethnic posts was Gboyega Akosile, Sanwo-Olu’s chief press secretary.

Akosile of APC wrote on Twitter against Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party (LP) gubernatorial candidate in Lagos
Akosile wrote on Twitter against Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party (LP) gubernatorial candidate in Lagos

Akosile then made a statement to claim that Lagos accommodates people of different tribes on Tuesday.

READ ALSO; APC Agents Give Lagos Residents N1,500, N2,000 to Vote for Sanwo-Olu

“The government of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu does not consider ethnic or religious sentiments when planning for development of the state… Our Greater Lagos development agenda tagged THEMES does not know race or religion. It speaks only to Lagosians,” Akosile said to defend his principal in a media chat on Tuesday.

“Speaking specifically to the peaceful coexistence of ethnic nationalities, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ensured that no tribe is victimized or threatened by anyone in Lagos. He has provided adequate security for every ethnic minority such as the Ndigbo and Hausa communities in the state.

“Sanwo-Olu enjoys a very cordial relationship with the Igbo community in Lagos State… He has a lot of Igbo friends and regards them as his brothers and sisters.”

Bola Ilori and Femi Fani Kayode, APC chieftains, have also made denigrating statements against the LP gubernatorial candidate in Lagos. Ilori is a close associate of Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior and APC leader.

Bola Ilori is a close associate of Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior and APC leader.
Bola Ilori is a close associate of Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior and APC leader.
Femi Fani Kayode claimed that Rhodes-Vivour had lost his 'control of his senses' and 'wanted to 'hand Lagos over to Igbos'.
Femi Fani Kayode claimed that Rhodes-Vivour had lost his 'control of his senses' and 'wanted to 'hand Lagos over to Igbos'.
Femi Fani Kayode claimed that Rhodes-Vivour had lost his ‘control of his senses’ and ‘wanted to ‘hand Lagos over to Igbos’.

Sanwo-Olu is yet to directly condemn the bitter rhetoric of the campaign. Before the February 25th presidential election, Rhodes-Vivour did not suffer the smear campaign the APC has subjected him to so far.

READ ALSO: APC Thugs Stop Igbo Traders From Selling in Popular Lagos Market — ‘Because They Voted for Labour Party’

The presidential election results the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presented last week showed that the ruling APC failed to win the majority votes in Lagos because of the LP. Immediately after this, Dayo Israel, the APC youth leader, posted a series of statements on his social media accounts rallying fellow APC members to campaign harder for the incumbent governor of Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu, the incumbent governor of Lagos, representing the APC, failed to address the multiple reports of violence against Lagos residents on February 25. Instead, he sent many messages to remind Lagos residents of how much work he had done in his first term and urged them to vote for him.

FIJ has noted an increase in political vitriol from APC supporters on all social media platforms ever since. These supporters have been using messages and misinformation charged with ethnic attacks to coerce prospective voters in Lagos.

READ ALSO: REVEALED: APC’s New Way of Wooing Voters in Lagos

The motif of the messaging from Lagos APC is LP’s Rhodes-Vivour’s genealogy. The APC has told Lagos residents not to vote the LP candidate because he is not Yoruba. This misinformation is especially dangerous because Lagos residents don’t have to be of one ancestry.

FIJ can confirm that the constitution does not prescribe that only a Yoruba person can be governor in Lagos. Rhodes-Vivour has a Yoruba father and an Igbo mother.

The LP candidate is not the only victim of the negative ethnic rhetoric from the APC. Party members and supporters have called Yoruba voters supporting Rhodes-Vivour ‘bastards’.

Footage showed that some APC supporters threatened voters of Igbo origin not to vote at their polling units in Lagos on February 25. Other reports claimed that thugs targeted areas where the APC was unpopular for violence.

All this is happening ahead of the gubernatorial election expected to take place on Saturday, March 11.

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Published 7th Mar, 2023

By Joseph Adeiye

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