Mr Peter Obi, Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, during the 2023 presidential election has said the demolitions of properties embarked on by governments are means of bringing more hardship to the people.
He hinted that governments should empathize with people even if they seem to have violated laws concerning the erection of buildings.
Obi made the disclosure on his X account today at the time the Lagos government was demolishing structures that were illegally built in some areas of the states.
“It’s with complete despondency and unhappiness that I have followed the ongoing demolitions of properties across the country, especially knowing the extra hardship such acts have been heaping on hapless citizens who are already battling with multi-dimensional Poverty,” Obi wrote.
“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 and to carry out measures that will take more people out of poverty.
“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 lifetime savings and retirement abodes of the aged and incapacitated.
