10th June, 2022
Malam Osmail Dikko, the Director-General of the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority(KASUPDA), has said that the structure which was removed within the premises of the State University violated extant laws.
The structure, according to residents, was a chapel under construction.
However, Dikko, in a statement issued in Kaduna, said that the State Executive Council had earlier given a clear directive that all public buildings and institutions must submit relevant documents before erecting new structures within their premises.
He said KASU partially complied with the directive by submitting its master plan but without an application seeking permission for further development.
He said: “While waiting for the university to fully comply with the directive on erecting new buildings within the premises of the institution and public buildings, the development control team of KASUPDA noticed that excavation work was still going on at the site.”
Dikko said that he personally went to the site on June 3 but was unable to see the site engineer.
”I only met laborers. Out of courtesy to KASU, I went back on Sunday, June 5 and this time I met the Engineer. I told him that they are in contravention of the law and I asked them to stop further work on the project until they get a permit,’’ he disclosed.
Dikko said that on Monday, the developers continued with the project and for that reason, KASUPDA removed the excavation that had been started for foundation development which hasn’t been completed.
‘’I do not know if the proposed structure would have been a church or just a building. The developers contravened the law and KASUPDA merely performed its statutory duty by removing it.’’