Imo govt marks Foret Event Center with red paint days after it hosts Peter Obi’s town hall meeting
Foret Event Center, along Port Harcourt Road in Owerri, was reportedly marked with red paint days after it hosted a town hall meeting addressed by Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 election.
The markings were reportedly made by officials from the Office of the Special Adviser to Governor Hope Uzodimma on Monitoring and Compliance. Red paint on a building can signal possible demolition. Whether a formal notice was issued to the venue’s management, and what grounds it cited, could not be independently verified.
Obi held the town hall meeting on Saturday, October 31, 2026, as part of his nationwide engagements ahead of the 2027 elections. Speaking in Owerri, he accused President Bola Tinubu of neglecting Imo State and criticised his administration’s record on poverty and insecurity. [realnewsmagazine.net](https://realnewsmagazine.net/imo-state-our-conversations-and-engagement-with-the-people-continue/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
The timing puts the reported action under scrutiny. A planning or compliance issue could explain the markings. Their appearance days after the meeting also raises the possibility of retaliation. Had the property already been flagged for enforcement before the NDC booked the venue, or did officials first take an interest in it after Obi’s meeting?
A dated inspection record, any notice served on the property owner and an explanation from the governor’s monitoring and compliance office would help establish why the building was marked and whether demolition is being considered.
If Foret Event Center was singled out because it hosted Obi and the NDC, that would be an act of political intolerance and deserves condemnation. A business owner should be able to rent out a hall for a peaceful political meeting without fear of reprisals. Using enforcement powers to punish one venue could also deter other businesses from accepting bookings from opposition parties, leaving those parties with fewer places to meet the public.
