Lagos Gives Trade Fair Property Owners Two Weeks To Regularise

The Lagos State Government has given property owners and developers at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, a two-week ultimatum to regularise the approval status of their buildings in line with extant planning regulations.

The directive followed criticisms after over 19 buildings, each reportedly worth N150m, were recently demolished during enforcement operations carried out by officials from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA), Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA), and other relevant agencies, accompanied by security operatives.

In a statement signed on Thursday by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for unapproved developments, insisting that enforcement at the complex would continue until full compliance was achieved.

“Over time, the Trade Fair Complex has degenerated into an enclave of haphazard and unsafe structures, posing grave risks to public safety and emergency response,” the statement read.

According to the commissioner, the government’s action is backed by law, citing the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Act of 1992, the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law of 2019, and the 2003 Supreme Court judgment in Attorney-General of Lagos State v. Attorney-General of the Federation, which affirmed the state’s authority to regulate physical development within its territory.

Olumide stressed that the enforcement drive was not about land ownership but strictly about ensuring that all physical structures in Lagos comply with planning and building approval requirements.

“For clarity, land ownership and title are not in contention at the Trade Fair Complex. The ongoing enforcement focuses solely on the approval status of physical developments, as every structure in Lagos State must obtain a valid planning permit from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development in accordance with the law,” he explained.

The government also faulted what it described as attempts by some political actors, particularly from the South-East, to misrepresent the enforcement exercise as ethnically motivated.

It said such claims were “populist, ill-motivated, and aimed at scoring cheap political points,” stressing that similar actions had been carried out in several parts of the state — including Pelewura Market, Bombata Market, Ilasan Low-Cost Estate, Otumara, Alaba Rago, and Oluwole Market — without any ethnic considerations.

“Furthermore, it is on record that several States in the East such as Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi and Imo State have also embarked on demolition of identified Illegal Structures for the purposes of flood control mitigation efforts, urban renewal or master plan enforcements.

“All carried out by the respective Governors without taints of ethnic coloration attached. Why should that of Lagos State be different?” the statement queried.

Olumide urged residents and stakeholders to support the state’s urban renewal efforts, which he said are aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 11 — “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable” — and the government’s T.H.E.M.E.S+ Agenda.

“It is, therefore, disingenuous and divisive for anyone to resort to ethnic sensationalism whenever enforcement actions involve structures owned or occupied by individuals of Igbo extraction. The Lagos State Government will not be drawn into political grandstanding and urges those fanning ethnic sentiments to desist and instead focus on addressing the pressing socio-economic issues within their constituencies. The actions of the Lagos State government are always guided by the Law.

“All developers and occupants of structures within the Trade Fair Complex are hereby given a two-week ultimatum to approach the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to to regularise the approval status of their buildings in line with extant regulations.

“The Lagos State Government calls on all residents and stakeholders to cooperate with its ongoing efforts to ensure a safe, well-planned, and sustainable Lagos for all,” he said.