Rhodes-Vivour Orchestrated My Removal From Office

The immediate past Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Olukayode Salako, has accused the party’s governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, of plotting his removal from office.

Salako stated that he was forced to step aside following an accusation that he is a mole in the party and was working for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.

He stressed that supporters of the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, popularly known as ‘Obidients’ accused him of planning to divert money sent to campaign for Rhodes-Vivour for personal use or work for Tinubu.

In an interview with The Punch, Salako said Rhodes-Vivour betrayed him because he reported him to the Forum of Leaders and Elders’ Council of the party for not doing the right thing.

He said: “I didn’t resign as the chairman, I was forced to step aside. The Obidients said they could not trust me with the campaign funds the presidential candidate, Peter Obi, wanted to send to Lagos because my wife worked for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s presidential bid and the All Progressives Congress.

“They saw me as Tinubu’s man, so they said I was a mole in the Labour Party. They said if any money was sent to Lagos, I would divert it for personal use or work for Tinubu. For those reasons, I was forced to step aside.

“I wasn’t a mole. It was Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, whom I discovered and I worked hard to get the governorship ticket for, that orchestrated my removal. He betrayed me. He wasn’t doing well with the party as the governorship candidate and I reported him to the Forum of Leaders and Elders’ Council of the party for them to tell him to do the right thing.

“Instead of that, he decided to make me his enemy and he became vindictive. He pushed me aside and was working with strange people that did not know how he got the ticket.”

Salako stated that he felt betrayed and badly treated by the Lagos State chapter of the party and he is not happy at all with the situation.

He added: “He didn’t run anything by me and because there was no way he could operate without working with the state chairman of the party, he chose to work with some persons for me to be removed and he did that in connivance with the current state chairman of the party, Dayo Ekong; the secretary, Sam Okpala; and his running mate, Islamiyat Oyefusi. They all thought I was a mole who would not make them win Lagos State, but we can see what happened afterwards.

“He started misbehaving the day after he got the ticket. However, I was already deeply involved, so I couldn’t go back at that point. I had to continue working towards his success at the poll. After he got the ticket, he became arrogant, intolerant to opposing views, and started calling himself my leader. His type cannot rule a local government let alone come to rule Lagos.

“He didn’t carry me along. I ran the office of the state party chairman for five months without anybody giving me ‘shishi’ because they saw me as Tinubu’s mole. I didn’t betray anybody but Gbadebo and those party chieftains in Lagos betrayed me, and God does not reward betrayal. I felt betrayed and badly treated by the Lagos State chapter of the Labour Party and I am not happy at all.”