Dr Olajide Adediran, the Convener of Lagos4Lagos Movement, within the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has commiserated with the families of victims of the collapsed 21-storey building in Ikoyi on Monday.
Adediran, popularly known as “Jandor”, expressed the condolences in a statement on Tuesday evening in Lagos by his Press Secretary, Mr Kazeem Bakare.
Adediran described the disaster as avoidable, saying “the sad incident is one too many”.
He called out the state government on the poor monitoring of agencies under its watch, resulting in the incessant collapse of buildings in Lagos.
“This is a pointer to the high degree of disregard for due diligence and compliance with standards by the government which continues to put the lives and properties of Lagos residents at risk,” he said.
Reacting to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s suspension of Mr Gbolahan Oki, the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Adediran said it was a face-saving development.
He admonished the independent panel of inquiry, set up by the government, to look into the immediate and remote causes of the collapsed building.
The APC chieftain added that the panel should also investigate the claims and counter claims by the suspended LASBCA general manager and that of the Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, on the approved floors for the building.
“It is not just fair enough to suspend the general manager. Are we saying the GM who issued the approval for the building didn’t know what he approved or what?
“There.is more to this and we believe only a truly independent panel of inquiry can do justice to this,” he said.
Recalled that the LASBCA boss had earlier on Monday said that the owner of the collapsed 21-storey building, under construction in Ikoyi, was given approval to construct only 15 floors.
However, Hamzat, while addressing journalists at the site of the collapsed building on Tuesday morning, revealed that the owner of the building got approval for 21 floors.
As at Tuesday evening, nine trapped victims were rescued live and 20 confirmed dead as rescue operations were still ongoing at the site to rescue more victims still trapped in the rubbles 24 hours after the incident.
At least 50 people are reportedly trapped under the rubble.
The building, located at 20 Gerrard Road, collapsed at about 3 p.m. on Monday.