A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has countered the 2023 presidential flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, over the demolition of his brother’s property in Lagos.

Obi lamented the issue on Tuesday via a statement on his official X account, saying that lawlessness must stop for Nigeria to thrive.

Reacting, Reno said the issue with Obi’s brother has nothing to do with lawlessness, explaining that Lagos is not a jungle—it is a state and city governed by laws.

He added that Obi is not being victimised or targeted because he contested the presidential election in 2023, as he claims.

Reno said if the LP chieftain were being targeted, the bank in which he has substantial interests would not be doing so well as to make a 325% increase in profit under President Bola Tinubu.

He said the fact is that under the Tinubu administration, Obi is having the best financial times of his entire life.

“By saying that a court cannot issue orders against ‘unknown persons,’ Peter Obi once again betrayed the fact that he is a common trader, not an uncommon leader,” Reno said.

“I have a Master’s in Law from England, and any lawyer worth their salt knows that a court can convict or give orders against unknown persons.

“The correct legal term is ‘persons unknown,’ and there are multiple case laws in Nigeria and other common law jurisdictions, including the case of London Borough of Barking Versus Persons Unknown, which is similar to the case allegedly involving Obi’s brother.

“Obi did not even come second during the election. He was third. If the government was going to target anyone, why leave the first runner-up, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and target a distant third-place desperado who was detained at London’s Heathrow Airport?”

Reno said this is the same way Obi falsely raised an alarm about Landmark Beach Resort, part of whose property was legally demolished based on the principle of eminent domain.

The social media critic said Nigerians may recall Obi had claimed at that time that Landmark Beach Resort was being targeted because of the Igbo ethnic origin of the property owner, but according to Reno, this lie was busted by the fact that other properties owned by ethnic Lagosians were also demolished.

“In fact, the Oniru family, a prominent Lagos Lukumi Yoruba family close to the President, suffered an even greater loss as their beach resort was torn down to make way for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway,” Reno said.

“However, Nigerians may also remember that when the Anambra State Government demolished the head office of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company, Obi said nothing, even though Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company complained that they were being victimised.

“Nigerians may even recall that as governor, Obi demolished Premier Brewery, Onitsha, as well as other structures, and declared that he would pay ‘no compensation.'”

According to Reno, this is even as some critics suspected his action was because he had invested his money in another competing brewery and was motivated to target a rival brewer like Premier Brewery.

He added that Obi does not have a problem with any demolition, legal or illegal, carried out in the Southeast by an Igbo-dominated state government against a person of Igbo origin.

Reno said his focus and issue are Lagos, such that any time the Lagos State Government takes legal action against a prominent person of Igbo origin, Obi is gleefully ready to weaponise the incident and use it to promote his “dead 2027 presidential ambition.”