Lagos Building Collapse: What planning commissioner said before he resigned

Following the collapse of the seven-storey building in the Lekki area of Lagos on Sunday, Commissioner for Physical Planning, Idris Salako, has revealed how power play led to the fatal incident in which six are dead now while others remain under the rubble.

According to him, the site had been sealed thrice but the developer found his way in, and resumed construction.

“We have a developer that is hostile and who contravenes the law of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning, 2019, as amended”, he said.

The developer, who is yet to be named, didn’t get the necessary permit when he started the project, though he applied.

“Several times, the officers of the Lagos State Building Control Agency visited this site and the attitude of the contractor has been that of hostility,” he said.

Besides using his personal security to block the agency’s enforcers, the developer was also swinging his clout.

“He dropped names any time our officers visit the place; we have sealed the site three times and he kept breaking the seal,” said Salako.

The commissioner later tendered his resignation to Gov. Babajide Sanwo Olu.

No reason was stated in the letter, though. But since Salako’s appointment last year, the National daily reported the state has witnessed no fewer than six incidents of building collapse, including the 21-storey building that collapsed last November in Ikoyi.

And the excuse has been the same: developers having powerful connections within the state government.