Peter Obi’s Brother Heads to Court Over Demolition of Ikeja Property, Demands Justice

Ndibe Obi, younger brother to Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, has approached the court to challenge the recent demolition of his property in Ikeja, Lagos State.

Obi, who is the majority shareholder in Next Foods Ltd, the company that owns the property, claims the demolition was carried out unjustly and without prior notice. His legal team, led by Chief Emeka Okpoko, SAN, disclosed during a press briefing in Awka on Thursday that legal processes have 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,” 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.”

According to him, the property was legally acquired in 2011, and the Governor of Lagos State granted consent 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 noted.

Okpoko further explained that the deed of assignment recorded the full history of the land, dating back to the Western Nigeria era when the land registry was in Ibadan. He expressed concern that the recent events leading to the demolition were based on a questionable legal judgment.

“When this event unfolded last Friday, I was called upon. I spoke to the gateman who told me people arrived without any papers. Later, a Form 41 was found, which mentioned N5,700 owed and an order to recover goods and chattels.”

He said the original case was between one Deborah Olonwulogbo and unknown persons, and that the execution order was based on a process that involved substituted service, which may not have reached the actual occupants.

“My thinking told me that what they did was to go to a hidden place and paste it. Probably after pasting it, they got someone to remove it,” he said.

Okpoko emphasized that he did not blame the judge who ruled on the matter.

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

He also questioned the delay in executing the judgment, which was delivered in 2024 but only carried out in June 2025.

“We have filed 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.”

Raising further doubts, Okpoko revealed that a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) was presented by the opposing party but claimed it was issued only in 2025, years after his client’s legal ownership was established.

“The case was filed in 2023 and judgment delivered in 2024, but as I speak, I saw them flash a C of O obtained in 2025. Prior to that, what they had was a federal C of O from the Federal Ministry of Works in Ikoyi, Lagos, dated 2021.”

He maintained that his client’s C of O dated back to 2011, with Lagos State Governor’s consent in 2013, adding:

“I don’t think a federal C of O is applicable to Ikeja GRA. At this point in time, there is hardly any undeveloped land in Ikeja GRA. That C of O cannot validate any transaction that has illegality or invalidity under it.”

The senior advocate also stated that Next Foods Ltd has fulfilled all 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 concluded.

The case is expected to open broader legal debates surrounding property rights, land registration systems, and urban development in Lagos.