TheCable

The Lagos state government says no house has been marked for demolition.

On Wednesday, Muiz Banire, national legal adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos, is on a vendetta against him after failing to remove him as the legal adviser of the party.

He said the state government threatened to pull down the home of his mother if a building permit was not provided in 24 hours.

But in a statement, Anifowose Wasiu Abiola, commissioner for physical planning and urban development, said it is “pathetic” for Muiz Banire to equate his “untidy record keeping with political witch hunting”.

Abiola said the notice requesting for building permits was served on other houses, not just the home of Banire’s mother.

He said it was routine for building permits to be requested by the state governments and that no demolition notice was served.

“While it was within Banire’s right to identify with any set of cohorts that may be struggling with waning influence and political relevance, it is a pathetic case of scaremongering to equate his untidy record keeping with political witch-hunting. It is not a sign of maturity to be crying wolf where there is none,” the statement read.

“There is no way Lagos state would have had a pre-knowledge of the owners of the properties in question let alone targeted the one that Banire has identified to be his own

“The 27 properties served across the state are just the first set of an ongoing exercise embarked upon by the ministry of physical planning and urban development to validate the records and permits of properties that have undergone ownership transfer processes.

“This is a routine and lawful exercise that ought not to be confusing to a supposedly learned gentleman who has had the privilege of serving in the Lagos state cabinet for a dozen years.”

The commissioner said since Banire claimed that transfer of ownership on the property from the federal government to him is ongoing, Lagos only wanted a proof going by the state’s law.

“To suggest that because the transfer of ownership from the federal government to Mr. Banire is yet to be finalised makes him a mere tenant on the property he has acquired is not only disingenuous but is an attempt that is subtly fraudulent. While it is true that every government property sold to individuals or corporate entities is released to the owner on a 99-year lease, no new owner who has bought a property from government deceives the public that he is a mere tenant to the government on an acquired property,” he said.

“Or is Mr. Banire a tenant to the government on the other properties in Ikeja GRA he owns in the state?

“The law indeed demands that the property owner in question produces all documents in support of his/her case within 24 hours of the service of the Notice after which any contravention is expected to be removed by the owner within 48hours.

“So, it is patently false that any house has been marked for demolition within 48hours. This is the law that has been in existence since 2010 when Mr. Banire was still a cabinet member in the Lagos state government.”