The nine-man special investigation panel set up by the Federal Government through the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria to investigate reasons for the collapse of the 21-storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos, have submitted their report.

Receiving the report, the government declared that the licences of culpable engineering practitioners who participated in erecting the collapsed structure could be outrightly seized.

The President, COREN, Ali Rabiu, who received the report on behalf of the Federal Government in Abuja, stated that the collapse was indeed an engineering failure.

This, he said, was why the government inaugurated the panel to ascertain what actually went wrong with the building, which collapsed on November 1, 2021.

Rabiu said, “We have some things to learn from this exercise. Going forward, after we must have seen what went wrong, we will apply some measures to correct ourselves and also sanction negligence by our practitioners.

“If there are engineering practitioners involved in this collapse, I want to assure you that COREN will, by the mandate given to it by the Act, ensure that such professionals are sanctioned in accordance with the law.

“Where they are not practitioners and they are found involved, we will ensure that we prosecute them in courts of competent jurisdiction. But in the meantime, the report will be forwarded to the appropriate organs of government.”

Asked to state the possible sanctions to culpable practitioners, Rabiu replied, “It depends on the level of involvement and the infraction committed. Recently we tried some of our engineers in the COREN Engineering Tribunal for infractions they committed.

“One or two of them were found guilty and we punished them accordingly. The punishment ranges from suspension from practice for one to three years, as the case may be, or we could also seize their licences outrightly.

“This means that they will no longer practice engineering in Nigeria. So these are the sanctions that we carry out within our purview, as we cannot prosecute them for manslaughter because that is not in our law.”

Rabiu explained that the report on the collapse would be sent to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the parent ministry of the council, adding that the works minister would get the document.

The Chairman of the panel, George Okoroma, said the uncertainty in Nigeria’s built environment was seemingly getting out of control, based on investigations of the committee.

“The panel in its findings, which will be seen in the report, was very concerned about the parlous state of the built environment and which unfortunately appears to be drifting out of control,” he stated.

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