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Governor Sanwo-Olu Inaugurates Tribunal To Probe Ikoyi Building Collapse (Photos)

Published

3 years ago

Nov 4, 2021.

Governor Sanwo-Olu has on Thursday announced the tribunal to probe the Ikoyi Building Collapse.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, inaugurated members of the investigation tribunal to conduct an inquiry into the misconduct responsible for the collapse of a 21-storey building in the Ikoyi area of the state.

The governor also signed the instrument legitimising the composition of the panel and empowering the tribunal to invite or summon anyone and organisation useful to the investigation as the tribunal members took an oath on Thursday.

The tribunal members, who were drawn from the private sector, took the oath at the event held at the LASWA Building at Falomo, Ikoyi.

The members of the tribunal, whose duty commences immediately, are expected to report back to the state government within four weeks.

The President of Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr. Toyin Ayinde, was announced as the chairman of the panel, while Ekundayo Onajobi, a lawyer in a private law firm, was inaugurated as the Secretary.

Other members of the panel include a structural engineer, Dr. Akintilo Idris Adeleke; an architect, Yinka Ogundairo; representative of Institute of Builders, Mr. Godfrey O. Godfrey, and Mrs. Bunmi Ibrahim, a real estate lawyer.

Speaking at the inauguration of the tribunal members, Sanwo-Olu, who described the building collapse as a “sad one” for Lagos State, stated that the residents of the state deserved to know what went wrong.

He added that the work of the panel would not bring back the lives lost, noting that it would help to prevent reoccurrence of such tragic events.

The governor said, “We are gathered here to perform a sad but necessary duty, which is the inauguration of a 6-member Panel of Inquiry into the collapse of the 21-storey building at Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, on Monday. It is a solemn moment for me personally, but this is an important assignment. Indeed, the generation coming after will not forgive us if we don’t do the right thing on this incident.

“The inauguration of this panel shows sincerely that the State Government is interested in unravelling and get to the root cause of what happened to the building, so that everyone concerned, including the Government, will learn from the very unfortunate incident. Lagosians and the world will be watching and waiting keenly, with the full expectation that the immediate and remote causes of this tragedy will be uncovered.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu further identified with distraught families of victims trapped under the collapsed structure, expressing the belief that the outcome of the investigation would assuage their pains and worries.