₦airaland Forum

Peter Obi’s brother heads to court over demolition of Lagos property

…Says property was purchased in 2011 and Lagos governor’s consent was obtained in 2013


[quote]The majority shareholder of Next Foods Ltd, Mr. Ndibe Obi, who is the younger brother of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has headed to the court to challenge the demolition of his property in Ikeja, Lagos.

Counsel the the company, Chief Emeka Okpoko, SAN, said in an interview in Awka on Thursday that the court processes have already begun.

He said: “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. 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”.

Going down memory lane, Okpoko said the property was purchased in 2011 and the consent of the governor of Lagos State was granted in 2013, adding that the property never had issues until the recent developments.

He added: “The land belongs to a company called Next Foods Ltd. Peter Obi’s younger brother is the majority shareholder of that company.

“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.

“When this event unfolded last Friday, I was called upon that some people came to claim execution. 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 N5700 and he said he didn’t have any dealing with anybody.

“I said we needed to trace the origin and from the document, I could see the case number which enabled us to go to the registry to unravel what happened. We traced the matter to a particular court and obtained the certified true copy based on the processes filed in the matter.

“When we went through it, 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.

“We went through the affidavit and discovered that there were squatters on the property and that she owned the property and traveled to look after her sick husband and when she came back, she saw the squatters.”

Okpoko said he could not blame the judge that delivered the case that prompted the demolition because, according to him, going through the file, we saw that there was a motion for substituted service to be pasted on the company.

“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.

“The court insisted that they served hearing notices by same substituted means. I will not blame the judge because he saw that the order he gave was effective”, he said.

According to Okpoko, “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.

“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.

“These are the issues we will pontificate in court and I believe and convinced that after hearing our own side of the story, I see no reason why we will not be successful.

“The case was filled in 2023 and judgement 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.

“That was obtained in 2021 but we had our own in 2011 and governor’s consent in 2013. I don’t think federal C of O is applicable to Ikeja GRA, but I will further dip into that. I wonder whether at this point in time, there is still anything like approval in Ikeja GRA at this time everywhere in the area is built up. The C of O cannot change any transaction that has illegality or invalidity under it.”

Okpoko said the company has consistently been meeting its obligations to the Lagos State government.

“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 stated.

naptu2:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/06/peter-obis-brother-heads-to-court-over-demolition-of-lagos-property/

Peter Obi’s brother heads to court over demolished Lagos property

By Matthew Atungwu
June 26, 2025

The majority shareholder of Next Foods Ltd, Ndibe Obi, the younger brother of the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has approached the court to challenge the demolition of his property in Ikeja, Lagos.

In an interview with newsmen in Awka, Anambra State, on Thursday, counsel to the company, Emeka Okpoko, SAN, stated that court processes had already commenced.

“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. 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,” he said.

Okpoko, who noted that the property was purchased in 2011, stated that the consent of the Governor of Lagos State was granted in 2013, adding that there had been no issues with the property until the recent developments.

The counsel said he could not blame the judge who delivered the judgment that prompted the demolition because, according to him, upon reviewing the file, they discovered a motion for substituted service to be pasted on the company.

According to him, judgment was delivered in 2024, and he emphasised that the execution only occurred in June 2025, despite it being required to take place within six months.

Reacting, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide expressed outrage over the demolition.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has refuted claims that any of its agencies was involved in the demolition.

The majority shareholder of Next Foods Ltd, Ndibe Obi, the younger brother of the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has approached the court to challenge the demolition of his property in Ikeja, Lagos.

In an interview with newsmen in Awka, Anambra State, on Thursday, counsel to the company, Emeka Okpoko, SAN, stated that court processes had already commenced.

“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. 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,” he said.

Okpoko, who noted that the property was purchased in 2011, stated that the consent of the Governor of Lagos State was granted in 2013, adding that there had been no issues with the property until the recent developments.

The counsel said he could not blame the judge who delivered the judgment that prompted the demolition because, according to him, upon reviewing the file, they discovered a motion for substituted service to be pasted on the company.

According to him, judgment was delivered in 2024, and he emphasised that the execution only occurred in June 2025, despite it being required to take place within six months.

Reacting, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide expressed outrage over the demolition.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has refuted claims that any of its agencies was involved in the demolition.

FreeStuffsNG:
Too much knowledge and information gap in the account of the lawyer. A judgment has been awarded against your client since last year and you're not aware? Smh.

Even the surname of Mrs Deborah was wrongly stated and you are contradicting Mr Obi's wrongful allegation of political victimization.

It's now clear that Lagos State Government wasn't even involved and Mr Obi should have petitioned LASG since you claim to be having the Lagos State Governor's Consent. Instead of petitioning the LASG, he resorted to blackmail, cyberbullying and self help. Smh

naptu2:
"Recent reports showing that Nigeria’s human rights indicators have worsened merely highlight severe shortfalls in government protection for civil liberties, personal security, and basic living standards."

"I know what I have been going through as a person in abuse of my human rights just because I contested a Presidential election which I have legitimate rights to do."

Hm, let me guess, what does a land dispute between two parties have to do with government and presidential election?

Okpoko said he could not blame the judge that delivered the case that prompted the demolition because, according to him, going through the file, we saw that there was a motion for substituted service to be pasted on the company.

Mr Bonaventure Mokwe narrated his ordeal in the hands of Peter obi and his Akwuzu mon::stors. You will cry 😭 https://t.co/FL9E76AURY pic.twitter.com/yBdOqWDBt7

— Comrade Àmọdá 🦇 (@AmodaOgunlere) June 26, 2025

Wickedfact:
Peter Obi owns the company. He's just using his brother as a front.

I don't know why Peter Obi tells kindergarten lies about.

Exousiang01:
Are you minding those people, even ifbthw lawyers claim to be unaware,would Peters brother also claim that he has not being seeing the suit number written on the property all this while?

They are jokers

004gist:
You should know that the government of the day could use faceless people to do the job.

They calculated everything. Went to xourt secretly kept the details of court secretly then demolished the structure.

They know that obi will speak, then when he does they bring open the secret kangaroo court papers

seunoyeleyep:
Let's pretend he owns the company. Is that a reason for the demolition?

SlavaUkraini:
Please don't make racist and tribalistic comments on this section

seunoyeleyep:
Let's pretend he owns the company. Is that a reason for the demolition?

Wickedfact:
Peter Obi owns the company. He's just using his brother as a front.

I don't know why Peter Obi tells kindergarten lies about.

Mr Bonaventure Mokwe narrated his ordeal in the hands of Peter obi and his Akwuzu mon::stors. You will cry 😭 https://t.co/FL9E76AURY pic.twitter.com/yBdOqWDBt7

— Comrade Àmọdá 🦇 (@AmodaOgunlere) June 26, 2025

004gist:
You should know that the government of the day could use faceless people to do the job.

They calculated everything. Went to xourt secretly kept the details of court secretly then demolished the structure.

They know that obi will speak, then when he does they bring open the secret kangaroo court papers