Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos state in the wake of the tragic Lekki building collapse that claimed the lives of over 30 people has approved the dismissal of Adeigbe Olushola, an engineer and general manager of the Building Control Agency (LASBCA).
The governor didn’t stop there, but also let go of Adeoye Thomas Adeyemi, head of inspection and quality control in the agency, and Dosunmu Gbadebo, zonal district officer in the agency.
Akinde Adenike Sherifat, zonal head of Eti-Osa west of the agency, was compulsorily retired from the civil service also.
The state government had blamed the collapse on “a brazen act of defiance and impunity” by owners of the building saying it “criminally unsealed the property and continued building beyond the approved floors until the unfortunate incident”.
“All the work that has been done here is nothing to write home about; it’s work that was done under no supervision, under no professional engineer or builder,” Adelaja Adekanbi, vice chairman Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) said.
“Let them bring the engineer or builder that is involved in the construction. The first two building here, I was involved in it; I taught them what to do. They wanted to raise two floors and they did a piling of six metres for this kind of structure so the structural stability is failure and where we are standing, if you don’t know, was purely water two years ago.
“Imagine someone building on water and doing a piling of six metres for a seven-storeyed building. I recommend to Lagos state government that every building here painted or not, should be tested.
“This house we are looking at should also be pulled down in a week. If not, we are looking for another trouble. At this point, I recommend that every house here should be tested to ascertain the structural stability because I don’t think they are habitable.”
Richard Nyong, managing director and chief executive officer of the company, was subsequently detained at Panti Police Station on Thursday.
When he was arraigned before an Ebute-Metta chief magistrate court the following day, the court ordered that he should be remanded in prison custody for 30 days.
“Rule 040401 of the Public Service act of misconduct which was what the perpetrators of this act fell on the wrong side of and will be prosecuted under states: ‘A willful act of omission or general misconduct to the scandal of the pubic or to the prejudice of discipline and proper administration of the State Government’ should be visited with dismissal from the Public Service in line with the Public Service Rule 040503.
It is hope that this line of action would act as a deterrent to public servants who act negligibly in their duties in serving the people and hopefully prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.
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