Disregard Stop Work Notice, Face Wrath Of Law 

The Ekiti State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Rt. Hon. Karounwi Oladapo has notified erring developers in the State for flagrant disregard to the extant law and guidelines of physical development across the State, which he said the present administration under the leadership of His Excellency, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, will leave no stone unturned in enforcing.

Honourable Karounwi stated this during an on the spot assessment of the damaged on an event center at Ijero Ekiti which caved in during an on-going event and left many people sustaining various degree of injuries. He lamented that even though the building had an approved plan, it is disheartening to note that such plan was not duly followed while the quality of the job and materials used were sub-standard.

He said the Ministry will be very pro-active going forward to enforced the Ekiti State Urban and Regional Law 2011 and the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law 2004 as well as the building regulations of 2017 of Ekiti State, while Town Planning Area Offices in all the Local Governments will be strengthened to monitor construction endeavors and carry out a thorough inspection of Public and Private buildings across the State to ascertain their level of conformity and compliance with development/building plan and permit to forestall a reoccurrence and ensure optimum performance.

Speaking further, the Commissioner submitted that the Ministry will soon embark on an Operation Show Your Approved Plan, OSYAP, exercise which will enable developers get their building plans or regularize their buildings over a period of moratorium after which the law will take it’s full course against erring developers, noting that the duty of any responsible government is to guarantee the safety and security of life of its citizens. Hence, the government will not fold its hands and allow preventable accidents and calamities to befall the people.

Cautioning developers who are fond of disobeying “stop work” notice to desist from such unpatriotic act, Karounwi informed that the notice carries the power of the law, and must be obeyed to the letter as anybody that goes outside the law is a criminal and the law will take its full course against any developer that contravene “stop work” notice.

“Going forward, we will enforce development control law. We will ensure that Physical Planning in Ekiti State is done according to the law. No arbitrary erection of structures anywhere any longer”, he said.

He advised developers to always embrace the position of the law which stipulates that development permit must be obtained for any structure, even as small as kiosk or container. Though the Government may overlook granting of development permit as a condition for the erection of Kiosks and Containers in solidarity with the Vulnerables! 

However, the government will not close its eyes to the erection of any building, be it Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Institutional or Recreational, going forward.

“Anything you want to attach on the land is called development, and before you do so, the law expects you to get a Development Permit”, he reiterated.

Earlier, the Commissioner had solicited for the cooperation and support of stakeholders during his engagement with the agencies under his Ministry, such as the office of the Surveyor General and Urban Renewal Agency, where he intimated them of his readiness to discharge his duties with vigour, and massive political experience.

He emphasized the importance of due process in physical planning and development endeavors and charged the concerned officers not to compromise standards in the approval process which, according to him, will not only guarantee the aesthetic beauty of the state but will equally restore the values of transparency, integrity and moral standard, which Ekiti is known for and in conformity with the six Developmental Agenda of the present administration.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Adeola Johnson, described the Commissioner as a round peg in a round hole, saying the familiar terrain which he had found himself will no doubt ensure the overall success of the present administration as far as physical development was concerned.