FG to prosecute developers of collapsed buildings

The Federal Government has vowed to prosecute developers found responsible for the collapse of buildings in the country.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, made this declaration during a review meeting with regulatory bodies in the built environment on Friday.

Nigeria has witnessed series of building collapses in recent years, resulting in the loss of lives and properties.

According to reports, over 100 buildings have collapsed in the country since 2010, with the most recent incident occurring in Plateau State and Abuja last month.

Dangiwa charged the ministry’s committee on building collapse to develop a checklist of professionals involved in the construction process to ease investigation and identify culprits.

“You must come up with a checklist of things to observe during inspection or assessment of building collapse and there must be a column to apportion blame to who is culpable,” he said.

The minister emphasised that the checklist must ensure quality assurance of design, concrete quality, soil tests, and supervision to identify those responsible for building collapse.

“Once there is building collapse, we should immediately move there with our checklist, identify it and fill in. Once that is done, you can independently sit down and identify the culprit and support it with tangible evidence,” he added.

The committee on building collapse presented 12 recommendations, including the reconstitution of the National Building Code Advisory Committee, review of Acts establishing regulatory bodies, and implementation of punitive measures for professional negligence.

Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, Dr Samson Opaluwah, commended the Minister for his initiative, saying, “Before, when there was an incident of building collapse, nothing was done to it, but this initiative shows that the Federal Government and the ministry are concerned and ready to tackle this issue to ensure safety and security of lives and properties.”