Four Lagos governorship candidates stepped onto the debate stage and immediately clashed over the issues hitting residents hardest: the housing crisis, climbing rents, the cost of living, and taxation. The conversation was pointed, with opposition candidates putting pressure on the ruling APC's track record and offering their own competing visions for how they would govern the state differently.
Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat took the floor to defend the APC's record, pushing back against criticism and making the case that the party's approach has laid groundwork for Lagos residents. The opposition candidates were not convinced, and they made sure the audience knew it.
Housing and rent costs drew some of the sharpest exchanges of the debate, reflecting just how central affordability has become to everyday life in one of Africa's most expensive and densely populated cities. Taxation policy also featured heavily, with candidates disagreeing on how the state should generate revenue without squeezing ordinary Lagosians further.
The debate signals that the race for Lagos is heating up, and that voters are hungry for concrete answers on the issues that show up in their monthly budgets. Watch this space.
Originally published by BusinessDay.