•Property to be forfeited to state govt, to demolish two other buildings
• Accepts 26 out of 28 recommendations by panel
By Segun James
The Lagos State White Paper on the recommendation by the six-man panel set up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the collapse of a 21-storey building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, has accepted the recommendations of the panel report that the owners of the structure, Messrs Fourscore Heights should be prosecuted and the property forfeited to the state government.
THISDAY exclusively gathered that the state government has accepted 26 out of the 28 point recommendations of the panel even as the government would be demolishing the other two structures within the promises as test showed that they were constructed with substandard materials.
The panel had recommended that, “the developer, having been negligent, should forfeit the project site to the Lagos State Government in accordance with Section 25(4) of the Revised LABSCA Regulation 2019. The Developer, Fourscore Heights Limited should be prosecuted in view of the loss of lives involved.”
The White Paper also stated that, “the various participants should face disciplinary action and prosecution as applicable.”
The government had set up a four-man committee led by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr. Tayo Bamgbose-Martins, an engineer, as a first step to the implementation of the report submitted by the panel, which investigated the collapse of the structure. A number of professionals were accused of incompetence and abuse of office. The government accepted the recommendation to report them to their professional bodies. Those people included engineers, town planners and surveyors.
According to the White Paper, government employees who signed documents relating to the approval of the building project are to appear before the Civil Service Personnel Management Board for disciplinary action.
The paper also accepted the recommendation of the panel that three employees of the state government who were town planners be indicted for perjury, alleging that they fraudulently contrived a report claiming that it was based on the recommendation of a consulting firm. But upon investigation, it was found that they just put the names of the consulting firm in the report.
The panel stated that they lied under oath as the company denied the said report. The men have been recommended to Directorate of Public Prosecution for prosecution. For lying under oath and committing perjury, they will be tried.
However, the white accepted the recommendation that the power to seal up building sites that contravenes the state property laws should reside solely with the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA) and that all other agencies which exercised such powers in the past must now channel their enforcements right through the LABCA.
It however rejected the recommendation that a political appointee who was accused of “over bearing” attitude against government officials should be sanctioned. Saying that this does not have any relevance with the issue of the building collapse.
The recommendation that only qualified professional should be allowed to supervise all projects was accepted by government even as it accepted the recommendation that are beyond four floors should be handled by a committee. It however said this has been increased to structures over six floors.
The governor had constituted the committee after receiving the report of the Panel at Lagos House, Ikeja. It was submitted by the chairman of the panel, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, a town planner. The building collapsed on November 1, 2021.
