The Lagos governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has said he will conduct his campaign in Yoruba ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Rhodes-Vivour disclosed this during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, while responding to questions about his inability to speak Yoruba.
His language proficiency became a major issue during the 2023 governorship campaign after an interview in which he said he did not “think in Yoruba” attracted criticism.
The ADC candidate said he had since taken steps to learn the language, stressing that language and culture were important to his engagement with Lagos residents.
“This tribal thing, speaking language situation and all that. Yes, culture and language is very important and I’ve gotten a Yoruba teacher, and I’ve learned Yoruba, and I’ll campaign in Yoruba, and that is wonderful,” he said.
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Rhodes-Vivour, however, said his campaign would focus beyond language and ethnicity, arguing that several challenges affect Lagos residents regardless of their backgrounds.
“My passionate interest is to ensure that we have a Lagos that no longer stinks,” he said.
He identified flooding, housing and traffic as some of the major challenges confronting residents across the state.
According to him, the impact of these challenges is experienced by Lagosians irrespective of their ethnic or linguistic backgrounds.
“All of us are going to — when you translate it — all of us are going to hear the smell. Everybody is experiencing the failure of our flooding, of our housing crisis, of the traffic, of the loss of dignity of Lagosians, and that connects all of us, regardless of language,” he added.