Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has apparently decided that the road to Lagos Government House in 2027 must pass through the courtroom of 2023.
His latest intervention questioning the eligibility of the APC governorship candidate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, over an alleged United States oath of allegiance is not a new discovery. It is a resurrection of an argument that was already deployed in the litigation surrounding the 2023 Lagos governorship election.
There is nothing wrong with asking legitimate questions about the constitutional qualification of a political candidate. Indeed, eligibility for public office is a serious matter and should always be subjected to the law.
But there is something decidedly curious about presenting an old allegation as though it were a fresh political revelation.
Rhodes-Vivour himself has acknowledged that the issue formed part of his legal team’s challenge in 2023. The current reports also make clear that the immigration lawyer who testified about the alleged U.S. naturalisation process told the tribunal that her expertise was in U.S. immigration law and that she was not familiar with Nigeria’s constitutional provisions on dual citizenship.
That distinction matters.
An allegation is not a judgment. A testimony about the operation of foreign immigration law is not, by itself, a judicial declaration that a Nigerian is constitutionally disqualified from seeking elective office.
If Rhodes-Vivour believes he has uncovered a fresh and legally decisive fact, there is an appropriate place to establish it: the courts and other competent constitutional authorities-not political interviews.
The Nigerian political space does not become more legally sophisticated simply because an allegation is repeated loudly enough.
And that brings us to the more fundamental issue.
Why is the opposition already looking backwards when Lagos 2027 is supposed to be about the future?
Lagosians deserve to hear competing visions for the next four years. They deserve to know how the various candidates intend to tackle transportation, housing, infrastructure, employment, healthcare, education, security, environmental management and the enormous pressures that accompany Lagos’s position as Nigeria’s economic nerve centre.
They deserve policy alternatives.
They deserve measurable programmes.
They deserve to hear how the opposition intends to finance its promises and translate campaign rhetoric into deliverable governance.
Instead, we are being invited to take another trip down the familiar road of 2023. Lagos has moved on. The political conversation of 2027 should not be held hostage to an election that ended three years ago.
If there is a genuine constitutional issue concerning Dr. Hamzat’s eligibility, let the appropriate legal institutions determine it. The APC has no fear of the law, and we have no objection to any legitimate scrutiny of our candidate. But let nobody confuse political repetition with legal resolution.
The APC’s position is straightforward: bring the facts, bring the law, and let the competent authorities pronounce. What cannot be allowed is for a political campaign to substitute allegation for evidence and political assertion for judicial determination.
There is also a certain irony in the argument coming from someone who is now presenting himself to Lagosians under a new political platform.
The people of Lagos have every right to ask: What is the alternative? Not merely, “What is wrong with Hamzat?” But: “What will you do differently?” That is the question every serious opposition candidate should be prepared to answer.
Politics cannot permanently be an exercise in opposition to another person. At some point, an aspiring leader must tell the electorate what he stands for, not merely what he stands against.
The APC will welcome that debate. Let Rhodes-Vivour bring his policies. Let him bring his economic blueprint. Let him explain his transportation strategy. Let him tell Lagosians how he will create jobs, expand infrastructure, improve housing and sustain the developmental momentum of the state. Let him make his case. The APC will make ours.
And when the time comes, Lagosians-not political sound bites, not recycled allegations and certainly not the ghosts of the 2023 litigation-will have their say. 2027 is not 2023. The future of Lagos cannot be built by endlessly litigating the past.
If Rhodes-Vivour has a legal case, let the law speak. If he has a political case, let Lagosians hear it. But let us please move the conversation from “What happened in 2023?” to the far more important question: “What is your plan for Lagos in 2027?” That is the debate Lagos deserves.
Oladejo is the spokesperson of Lagos APC
