Peter Obi speaks out against Lagos demolition, others

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 2023 election, has said he is unhappy with the ongoing demolitions of properties across Nigeria.

In a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday, November 30, Obi, a former governor of Anambra state, said the country is already hard and the government should not compound the woes of the people.

'Halt demolition of buildings': Obi to govts

According to him, “what a responsive government should be doing under the current harsh economic conditions in the country is to come up with measures aimed at alleviating the people's hardships".

The LP chieftain said: "Even if there are some violations as the governments are claiming, this critical time is not auspicious for such an exercise knowing the hardship in the land and the consequences it will have on the poor who are struggling to make ends meet with their little resources.

“The poor in our midst who are putting their meager resources are going through very severe financial stress that should not be multiplied further. In some cases, the properties being demolished are the life-time savings and retirement abodes of the aged and incapacitated."

The presidential hopeful therefore appealed to the respective governments involved to consider the hardship in the country and try and put a human face to their actions.

He said: "While we should enforce sensible regulations, all actions of government must show compassion.”