Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party’s 2023 governorship candidate in Lagos, has warned President Bola Tinubu that he will lose Lagos again in the 2027 general elections if he continues to act like a conqueror.

The LP former governorship candidate gave this warning, while speaking with newsmen, even as he condemned the hardship, which he noted was routinely inflicted allegedly on Lagos residents during the president’s visits to the state, likening the situation to colonial-style rule

This was just as he quickly noted that the movements of national leaders rarely interfere with daily life in major cities like Paris and London, declaring that a situation where thousands of people must endure agonizing stress and chaos consistently every time President Tinubu is in Lagos, “is going a bridge too far.

“I understand that it hurts the president deeply to have lost Lagos in the last election but acting like a conquistador as a payback, where thousands of people must endure agonising stress and chaos consistently every time you’re in town, is going a bridge too far.

“I lived in Paris for a couple of years, and not once did we experience chaos because the President was driving past our district.

“When I was in London, not only did I once shopped in the same store as the Mayor, I have on several occasions been in the same vicinity as the Prime Minister. Not once did our lives have to pause for the PM to drive or walk past,” Rhodes-Vivour said.

“This obsession with being the ‘big man,’ viewing citizens as subjects who are beneath and should be trampled on, is the reason you lost in 2023 and is the reason you will lose again in 2027,” he warned.

Rhodes-Vivour condemned what he termed a culture of political elitism that prioritizes personal aggrandizement over public service, which he alleged was being perpetuated by President Tinubu, emphasising that the electorate would not forget the inconveniences and indignities suffered at the hands of power displays disguised as security protocols.

“I make bold to remind you that you are in office to serve the people, and these same people you have kept trapped in traffic for hours, who missed doctors appointment, a loved one event, a business transaction or whose minds have had to endure this humiliation, will certainly have their day soon,” he said. (Nigerian Tribune)