Olumide Oluyinka, Lagos state commissioner for physical planning and urban development, says that the demolition of some buildings at the Lagos trade fair complex was not targeted at the Igbo traders.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, ‘The Morning Brief’, Oluyinka noted that the demolition was a technical decision to ensure compliance with physical planning.
“It is not true that we are victimising Igbos. We’ve been to Owode Onirin, an area with south-west traders, Idumota, and Ikeja. It has no ethnic colouration. The fact is that we just have to do our work. It is purely technical,” he said.
The commissioner said that there is no conflict of interest as to whether the federal or state government owns the complex.
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“The management of the Trade Fair is under the ministry of trade and commerce, not housing,” he said.
”When you have a federal government land in Lagos, there is no dispute regarding the ownership. What we are talking about is physical planning as stipulated by law.
“What we have seen in that place (trade fair) is a situation whereby the management is leasing the place to third parties and private individuals who marshal their own team of consultants and contractors and start development without recourse to the due process of the law.
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“You can see that there is no reasonable layout, which is the starting point before approval. You have a three-storey building that is two foot away from the road, such that when you open the door of those shops, they will swing over the road. You want to tell me that a serious architect did that design? That cannot be possible.”
He said the agency notified management of the complex in June and had gone there earlier in March last year, but were “attacked and detained for about six hours”.
“The simple fact is that we all must keep by the law. When you look at where Peter Obi stood (referring to the video of Obi’s visit to the complex), it is just two metres from the drainage, and they have paved that place,” he said.
”Imagine if that drainage is to be cleared, and you go there with a swamp buggy, where will it dump the refuse? Where will the truck that will collect it pass? They are simple laws. It is a shame that we allowed our trade fair to get to that extent.”
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He dismissed claims by Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, that the demolition was carried out unlawfully, citing similar cases in Abia, Enugu, and Kaduna.
Oluyinka encouraged Lagos residents to go about their business lawfully and follow due process.
