The majority shareholder of Next Foods Ltd, Mr Ndibe Obi, who is also the younger brother of Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, has taken legal action over the recent demolition of his company’s property in Ikeja, Lagos.
His lawyer, Chief Emeka Okpoko, SAN, said court proceedings had already begun.
Speaking in Awka on Thursday, June 26, he revealed that the company was not served any prior notice of the suit that led to the controversial demolition.
“We will make an order to be joined as parties to the case and seek leave for processes to be amended to incorporate the name of our client,” Okpoko said.
“We have an application seeking to set aside that judgment. We have a leg seeking to stay further execution.
“There is another leg seeking an injunction pending the hearing of the substantive matter. We also have a leg where we are saying convert this originating summons into pleading so that parties can defend the matter and for the court to hear from both sides and form an opinion.”
Okpoko stated that the property in question was bought in 2011 by Next Foods Ltd, and the Governor of Lagos granted consent to the ownership in 2013.
“The land belongs to a company called Next Foods Ltd. Peter Obi’s younger brother is the majority shareholder of that company,” he said.
“The deed of assignment chronicled the history of that property right from Western Nigeria when the land registry was at Ibadan. That was when the last owners sold it. Their predecessor died leaving no will.”
According to Okpoko, the demolition came without warning last Friday. He said he was informed that some people had arrived claiming to execute a court order, although no documents were initially presented.
“I spoke to the gateman there to know what they came with and he said they did not come with anything. I said there was no way they could come without a paper and he eventually saw a paper they came with.”
“I read through the Form 41 and it was even talking about N5,700 owed and the order was to recover goods and chattels.
“The original case was between Deborah Olonwulogbo vs Unknown persons. I asked the security man if he did any transaction of N5,700 and he said he didn’t have any dealing with anybody.”
READ ALSO: Demolition: LASBCA Denies Involvement, Sanwo-Olu’s Aide Tells Obi to Call Police
Tracing the matter, the legal team obtained certified true copies of the case file. Okpoko said the case was built on a claim that the property had been occupied by squatters while the claimant was away caring for a sick husband.
“We discovered that she, Deborah, commenced an originating summons for interpretation where there would be no controversy. Also, the process was seeking for possession, not title,” Okpoko said.
He suggested the substituted service claimed by the plaintiff might not have been properly delivered.
“My thinking told me that what they did was to go to a hidden place and placed it. Probably after pasting it, they got someone to remove it.”
Okpoko added, “Judgement was given in 2024 and they waited until this June 2025 to come for execution, when it was supposed to have been executed within six months.”
He maintained that the company was never served with any notice.
“We have filled our own processes to show that truly speaking, we are the owners of the property. Nobody served us and we did not know the pendency of the matter. All we saw was this demolition,” he said.
He also raised questions about a new Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) allegedly obtained in 2025 by the other party, noting that Next Foods had obtained its own C of O in 2011, followed by the governor’s consent in 2013.
“The case was filed in 2023 and judgment delivered in 2024, but as I speak, I saw them flash Certificate of Occupancy, C of O, obtained in 2025.
“ Prior to that, we found out that what they obtained was federal C of O obtained from the Federal Ministry of Works in Ikoyi Lagos.”
“I don’t think federal C of O is applicable to Ikeja GRA,” Okpoko said. “The C of O cannot change any transaction that has illegality or invalidity under it.”
Okpoko concluded by stating that the company has consistently met its tax obligations to the state.
“We have been making our annual returns to the Lagos State government till date. We have evidence to that and we will annex it,” he said.