Abuja building collapse: Committee seeks overhaul of development control dept

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said it will overhaul its Department of Development Control to strengthen its institutional framework in order to enable the department cope with the ever increasing building activities in the FCT.
Minister of the FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, made this disclosure in Abuja on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, while receiving the report of the Panel of Inquiry on Jabi Building Collapse.
Bello, who was represented at the occasion by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, said the FCTA is on the verge of breathing new life into the department to make it function more efficiently and give developers value for their money.
He said activities of the department will also be decentralised to keep pace with the changing profile of the Territory and improve service delivery.
The FCT Minister said the FCTA is saddened by the incidents of building collapse in the country despite the calibre, number, and mix of professionals in the building industry in Abuja and other parts of the country.
He expressed optimism that the recommendations made by the Committee would help to curtail these incidents to the barest minimum.
The Minister appreciated the commitment and dedication of the Committee in putting together the report, despite their very tight schedule and professional engagements and assured that the recommendations will be considered and implemented to address the lingering issues of building collapse in the FCT and other parts of the country.
Submitting the three-volume report to the Minister earlier, Chairman of the Panel and Director General/Chief Executive officer, Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Professor Danladi Matawal said discoveries by the panel indicated that the collapse of the four-storey building was mainly due to poor structural and architectural pre-examination before the commencement of building in 2005.
He added that work on the building was abandoned but recommenced in January 2018 without any proper revalidation of the building.
While calling for appropriate disciplinary measures against indicted officers, the panel blamed the developer for unprofessional practices, especially in the commencement of work without adequate and comprehensive documents in place.
It also noted that there was a deficiency in the professional capability of the people charged with responsibility of supervising buildings, from start to finish.
As a means of checking quackery in the building process, the panel recommended, among other things, the use of qualified FCTA pool of site officers and engineers at building sites while embarking on the postings of staff for better performance.
The Chairman thanked the FCTA for the confidence reposed on the panel, adding that all 13 members brought their wealth of experience to bear to execute the very important but difficult task given to them.
It would be recalled that the FCT Administration, set up a panel of enquiry to unravel both the immediate and remote causes of the Jabi building collapse which took place on August 17, 2018, with a view to stemming future occurrences.