Lagos 2027: Rhodes-Vivour, Hamzat, Doherty unveil plans on housing, transport, others

Governorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have presented their proposals for addressing some of Lagos State’s major challenges, including housing, transportation, and healthcare, ahead of the 2027 governorship election. The candidates made their positions known during the 2027 Lagos State governorship debate organised by Vanguard Channels Television, TVC, Punch Newspapers, and The Cable on Sunday.

Housing The ADC candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, promised to deliver more than 100,000 housing units if elected, saying his administration would prioritise affordable accommodation for ordinary residents rather than the wealthy. He said the proposed houses would be allocated transparently to prevent individuals from acquiring multiple units under the scheme.

“The elites, the rich, can do it for themselves. The government’s role is to lift up people that cannot do it for themselves, and this comes into housing to ensure that we deliver 100,000-plus housing units and make it affordable so that it is transparently allocatable. We are not going to have a situation where one person can own ten units,” Rhodes-Vivour said.

The ADC candidate also promised legislation to protect tenants against arbitrary rent increases, proposing that landlords should give at least six months’ notice before increasing rents, with the increment guided by a stipulated percentage. He added that a feedback mechanism would be established to enable tenants to report landlords who violated the proposed regulations, assuring that offenders would be brought to justice.

The All Progressives Congress candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, who is the incumbent deputy governor, pledged to enforce existing regulations against arbitrary rent increases and the demand for multiple years’ rent in advance. Hamzat said his administration would ensure compliance with the Lagos State Real Estate Registration Agency Law, stressing that tenants should not be required to pay two or three years’ rent upfront.

“The next chapter for Lagos is to enforce. To make sure people are not asked two or three years ahead, because people don’t get paid two or three years ahead,” he said. He also said the state had established 24 housing estates in the last eight years, promising to expand access to quality accommodation through increased mortgage facilities and the completion of ongoing housing projects across the state.

The NDC candidate, Funsho Doherty, called for greater government involvement in providing affordable housing, arguing that private developers alone could not meet the accommodation needs of low- and middle-income residents. He also proposed the establishment of an ombudsman’s office to address what he described as exploitation of tenants through excessive agency, legal and other charges.

Doherty said the housing shortage was largely driven by the failure of supply to keep pace with population growth and demand, particularly in the affordable and social housing segments. He argued that government should take the lead in addressing the gap rather than leaving housing provision largely to private investors. According to him, the last major government-led housing intervention in the state was during the administration of former Governor Lateef Jakande.

Meanwhile, the PDP candidate, Adedeji Doherty, proposed that the Lagos State Government should become a major property developer and build houses which residents could rent directly from the government. He argued that government regulation alone could not force private landlords to reduce rents, insisting that the state should compete with them by providing more affordable accommodation.

“There is no landlord, and there is no government that can control a landlord. What we are going to do is very simple. “We are going to rent those houses ourselves, and then you can come and rent from us if you want to,” he said. Doherty maintained that government must become the biggest housing developer in the state and provide alternatives to private rental accommodation.

“If they cannot compete with the landlords, then let us forget it,” he said. Infrastructure On flooding and infrastructure, the candidates offered different approaches to managing Lagos State’s environmental challenges, with proposals ranging from improved drainage systems and wetland protection to climate adaptation, better road construction standards and infrastructure maintenance.

The ADC candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, said Lagos needed visionary leadership and modern engineering solutions to address flooding, particularly given its low-lying coastal geography. He cited cities such as Japan, Venice and the Netherlands as examples of places that had adopted innovative approaches to managing water, arguing that Lagos should learn from their experiences.

Rhodes-Vivour criticised the practice of indiscriminate sand-filling of wetlands, saying alter