Lagos – The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Idris Salako, has resigned from office over the inability to stem the spate of collapsed buildings in the State.
The Commissioner was learnt to have tendered his resignation letter when the report came to him that a seven-storey building collapsed in the Lekki axis of the state in early hours of Sunday.
Authoritative source revealed that the Commissioner was requested by the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to tender his resignation to save himself from any further public shame that may come later after the building on Oba Idowu Oniru collapsed with the death toll already at five.
Source revealed that the public shame was to sack him from office for not performing the major task that made the governor appoint him, barely three years ago.
“And to avoid shame, Salako was said to have picked the honourable path, tendering his resignation before other commissioners during the weekly Executive meeting on Monday”, source disclosed.
The Governor’s office source revealed that it was discovered that atrocities committed by developers and other stakeholders in the property sector of Lagos which had resulted in different cases of collapsed buildings were attributed to support they allegedly received from the former commissioner.
They added that the Governor and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, after a thorough review of the entire reports from investigations decided that it would not do the administration any good to continue keeping bad heads in the cabinet.
The sources stressed that the action of the governor would further force other members of the cabinet to roll up their sleeves and work effectively for the government through their various offices.
They claimed that plans had started to ensure that any of the governor’s aides and commissioners that were not ready to do due diligence were shown the exit door.
Confirming the resignation, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, disclosed that the governor has accepted Salako’s decision.
Omotoso, in a statement made available to newsmen, said that the resignation was a prelude to the upcoming restructuring of the Ministry and its agencies by the governor.
The commissioner noted that recent development required that the Sanwo-Olu administration review activities of the ministry and it agencies to ensure they become effective and serve the need to Lagosians.
According to the statement, Governor Sanwo-Olu thanks the Commissioner for his services to the State and wishes him success in his future endeavours.
“The Governor warns all players in the sector to respect the law or face the consequences of any indiscretion, no matter who the perpetrators are”.
Meanwhile, three more bodies have been recovered at the scene of the collapsed seven-storey building, increasing the death toll to five in Lagos State.
The three additional bodies were removed under the rubbles by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and their Lagos State counterpart and they include an aged-man that was in the building before it caved in.
