Funso Doherty, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate for Lagos State governor, has argued that the private sector cannot independently resolve the state’s housing crisis, urging the government to assume a leading role in providing affordable accommodation. Doherty made these remarks during the Lagos governorship debate held on Sunday in Lagos, an event organized by the Nigeria Debate Consortium, which includes Channels Television, TVC News, The PUNCH, TheCable, and Vanguard.
Addressing the issue of rising costs for residents, Doherty described arbitrary rent increases in Lagos as a form of racketeering. He outlined proposals to tackle these practices, promising to establish an ombudsman office to handle complaints and protect tenants if elected. “There is a form of racketeering. We would set up an ombudsman office to deal with this,” he stated.
The NDC candidate identified an inadequate supply of housing as a primary driver of the escalating rents in the state. He argued that housing development has failed to keep pace with the growing demand for accommodation. “The larger solution of the problem is due to supply. Housing supply has not kept up with growing demand,” Doherty explained.
Doherty maintained that social housing should remain a major responsibility of the government, asserting that private developers alone are insufficient to meet the accommodation needs of Lagos residents. “Social housing, that is an area, where government has to be the primary driver, private housing will not do it alone,” he added.
Furthermore, he criticized the current state government for allegedly failing to make sufficient investments in areas requiring public intervention. Doherty argued that the administration has allowed the private sector to take the lead in sectors where the government should play a more prominent role. “One of the areas we have a problem with this government is that they don’t step up in a big way in things they should, instead allow the private sector take the lead,” he said.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
