Ikoyi Building Collapse: Sanwo-Olu Inaugurates Investigative Panel
Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has inaugurated a panel to investigate the circumstances and causes of the 21-storey building that collapsed on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, on Monday.
This was as the governor gave the investigative panel the mandate to finish and submit the report of their investigation within four weeks, though the commencement date was not stated.
Recalled that the 22-storey building, still under construction, collapsed with 38 reported dead (as at the afternoon), many people rescued and several others still trapped in the rubble of the building.
The incident had continued to generate controversies, with fingers being pointed at the Lagos State authorities for alleged negligence of duty over the approval given for the construction of the ill-fated building.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, in statement, said he inaugurated the members of the investigative panel to conduct an inquiry into the immediate and remote causes of the building collapse.
He said he also empowered members of the panel to summon any individual or organisation they deemed necessary to aid their assignment.
Sanwo-Olu said in the statement: “Today, I inaugurated members of the investigation tribunal that will conduct an inquiry into the misconduct responsible for the collapse of 21-storey structure on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi, on Monday.
“To underscore the importance of this assignment, I also signed the instrument legitimising the composition of the panel and empowering the tribunal to summon anyone and any organisation useful to the investigation.
“The people deserve to know what went wrong and even though it would not bring back the lives lost, it would help to prevent a reoccurrence of such a tragic event.
“The inauguration of the panel shows sincerely that the state government is interested in unraveling and getting to the root cause of what happened, 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.”
