Victor Umeh, the senator for Anambra Central, has called the demolition of a few buildings at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos an act of impunity.
He declared the Lagos State government’s move to be unlawful and a blatant violation of its jurisdiction.
In an interview with Channels Television’s breakfast show, The Morning Brief, on Monday, Senator Umeh stated that the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning did not have the legal authority to authorize the demolition project.
“It was offensive and illegal what the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning did.
Dealing with people while taking the law into account is the problem. A collection of laws and the constitution rule the nation.
“That the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning came to defend his unlawful action saddens me,” Umeh remarked.
The Trade Fair Complex is still a federal facility run by the federal government, not the state government, according to the former national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
When the Lagos State Government stepped in with large machinery to demolish people’s buildings and investments without cause, it was in the Trade Fair Complex.
State governments have no authority over federal lands; federal agencies do. State lands and federal lands are different. The Senator stated, “Any property owned by the Federal Government in Lagos is listed in the Federal Land Registry in Ikoyi, not in the Land Registry in Alausa.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning, he said, had broken the law with his behavior.
He said the state government’s actions were an infringement since the Trade Fair Management Board has been in charge of the complex’s management, including ground rent collection, property rates, and construction clearances.
“It was offensive and illegal what the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning did.
“Until they moved in to demolish the buildings on September 25th, about two weeks ago, the Lagos State Government had never gone there to perform any of those functions,” he said.
Before the buildings were demolished, he claimed that the complex’s merchants and store owners were not given enough notice.
Senator Umeh insisted that the Trade Fair Management Board had approved all of the impacted structures, rejecting claims that they were built on canals and drainages without permission.
The Lagos State Government’s sudden and unannounced relocation there also astounded them. He claimed that nothing was written down or questioned about, not even the traders.
