OSIBONA: Uncertified engineer confesses before panel, takes responsibility for first floor

A structural engineer has told a Coroner Inquest into the 21-storey building collapse at Ikoyi, Lagos, that he and other builders on the project were not certified.

Muritala Olawale, who Fourscore Heights Ltd engaged to construct the block that collapse, disclosed this in Ikeja on Wednesday.

He was testifying on the circumstances that led to the November 1 building collapse in which 46 people, including the developer Femi Osibona, died.

Cross-examined by A.S. Odugbemi, counsel for the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Olawale said that the builders on the construction site were not certified by the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON).

“I am not COREN-certified. I do not have BSc Engineering but a Higher National Diploma from the Polytechnic Ibadan,” he said.

He added that his team constructed the first floor of Block B which collapsed.

But he told the inquest that he withdrew his structural consultancy services through a letter dated February 20, 2020.