8th November, 2015
Kazeem Ugbodaga
Ikeja Local Government has said that the pending lawsuit before a Lagos High Court would not stop the redevelopment of Alade Market into a mega shopping mall valued at about N6.9 billion.
The council said it had briefed the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and the State House of Assembly about the project, saying both of whom advised that all interests were properly accommodated.
Executive Secretary of the council, Adekunle Dailey-Adeokun gave the update at a session with journalists in Ikeja at the weekend, noting that there was no going back on the relocation of traders from the market.
On the pending lawsuit filed by some concerned traders in the market, the executive secretary explained that the suit “is still at the pre-hearing stage. I hope by the time we sit down, we would understand ourselves better and settle out of court because we belong to the same family.
“What is important is that we are bound to disagree and agree later. One interesting thing is that of the 300 lock-up shops, over 180 of them have responded by paying the mandatory N150, 000. So, majority are on our side. We have the majority are on our side. But the minority must also have their say,” he said.
According to him, the trio of the local council, traders and the concessionaire, Masters Reality International Concepts Ltd had set up a 16-man committee which was charged with the responsibility of working out relocation of the traders to the newly constructed alternative market.
“When we set up a 16-man committee, we agreed that after everything must have been completed, the committee will seat down to determine a date for the relocation. Definitely, it cannot happen in 2015 again. It will be early 2016. We have decided to allow the traders do their Christmas sales there.
“All parties have agreed to carry one another along. We will not do anything regarding the relocation of the market until early 2016. Already, the committee recommended that we should continue to provide all the essential facilities at the alternative market. We are working towards this recommendation,” he said.
Adeokun thus urged the traders to come together and help redevelop the market, noting that the local government planned “to make Alade Market to be a leading market in Ikeja and Lagos as a whole. All of us must join hands irrespective of our differences to resolve matters amicably once and for all.”