The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Oluyinka Olumide, has revealed that 80 per cent of buildings in Ibeju Lekki area of the state, have no approval.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration has been facing backlash for the demolition of buildings and shanties across the state.
In an interview with newsmen, over the weekend, Olumide said that despite the rigorous procedures involved in securing government approval, property developers and owners are still circumventing due process.
He said: “Just last Thursday and Friday, my team and I were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked.
READ MORE: Lagos Govt. Issues Ikoyi Towers’ Squatters 48-Hour Quit Notice
“We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 percent of them do not have approval.
“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for.
“In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land. Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.
“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for.
“After that, the layout permits a large expense of land follows.
“So, you can see all these layers, but people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge.
“Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose.”
