The Lagos State Government has dismissed recent remarks by Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, over the demolition of structures at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex.
Days earlier, more than 19 buildings were pulled down within the complex. Obi, after touring the site, took to X where he described the exercise as a “test of impunity, justice, and compassion.”
In response, the government issued a statement on Wednesday the 1st of October, with the headline, ‘Obi wrong on Trade Fair Complex’. The Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, accused Obi of “an effort to mislead the public by misinformation and disinformation.”
Omotoso stressed that the action was carried out strictly under the state’s Physical Planning Laws. He maintained that Obi’s position was “unfair.”
According to him, “The owners of the building have no approval. They got ample time to regularise their papers when the state government declared last year a general amnesty, which was extended several times. The owners shunned the offer.
“When Physical Planning officials visited the complex, the gates were locked against them; they were beaten up. When the government called the owners for talks, they said they would not come. Their defence is that the Management Board of the Trade Fair permitted them to build their structures. This is wrong.
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“The board created by the Federal Government to manage the complex, doesn’t have powers to regulate building developments within the complex independent of Lagos State Government. Physical Planning and building approvals are within the remit of State Governments.”
He further explained that the responsibility of the Trade Fair Complex Board is limited to leases, tenancies, and business activities. Any building works outside Lagos approval, he said, remain illegal.
Omotoso ended with a pointed remark: “We must decide the kind of society we want, one governed by law or one run by emotions, fueled by political interests.”