Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has encouraged the Lagos State government to balance enforcement with charity in the demolition of structures, claiming that being “legally correct” is not a replacement for being morally right.
The comments come a week after he visited the site of the demolished ASPAMDA Market at the Trade Fair Complex, where he criticized the demolition of vendors’ plazas and called it a test of the state’s commitment to justice and human rights.
However, in a statement issued on Wednesday last week, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, claimed Obi went into emotional overdrive when he described the occurrence as “a test of impunity, justice, and compassion.”
He defended the destruction as lawful, pointing out that the affected traders had plenty of opportunity to regularize their paperwork when the state administration declared a general amnesty last year, which was extended many times.
However, in a message posted on his X handle on Tuesday, Obi stressed that the law should never be used to cause “undeserved pain” or ruin livelihoods when less harmful alternatives exist.
To emphasize his point, the former governor used a personal experience abroad, stating that governments should seek proper legal remedies rather than waking up one morning to demolish homes or companies.
“Those seeking to justify the current demolitions in Aspamda Market, Lagos, and similar situations across Nigeria must be reminded that the law is not an end in itself; it is a means to ensure order, peace, and the protection of human dignity.
“When the law becomes an instrument to inflict undeserved pain—enforced without compassion or regard for human welfare—it ceases to serve justice.
“Even if, for the sake of argument, some of the affected traders failed to obtain the proper approvals, which is unlikely, was demolition the only option? If opportunities for regularization truly existed, as some have argued, why were they not pursued? Does it truly serve justice to destroy billions of naira worth of investments and livelihoods when less destructive remedies could have sufficed?”
Speaking on the effect of the demolition, Obi said, “It is like punishing a man who stole a bicycle with death instead of imprisonment—a sentence grossly disproportionate to the offense. That is what these demolitions represent: a punishment that far outweighs any alleged infraction.”
Obi called on the government to pursue a balance between law and compassion.
“My appeal is simple: governance must always balance law with compassion. A government should not pride itself on being legally correct if, in the process, it becomes morally wrong. Justice, to be just, must be tempered with mercy.
“These demolitions are a test of our collective humanity, justice, and compassion. Power must always be exercised with empathy—for it is in how we treat the vulnerable that the true character of leadership is revealed,” he added.
