In line with the ongoing implementation of the Certified Accreditors’ Programme (CAP), the Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) today officially opened the Expression of Interest (EOI) for thorough evaluations at LASBCA’s Headquarters at GRA,Ikeja.

According to the Special Adviser to Mr. Governor on eGIS and Urban Development, Dr. Olajide Babatunde, CAP is an initiative of the State Government for Public/Private Partnership, designed to boost Monitoring and Inspections of all building constructions in the State for more coverage area as the government cannot do the job alone.

Olajide further explained that after the official opening of Expression of Interest, shortlisted Accreditors will be chosen based on competence, experience and their familiarity with the environment as they will be deployed to all the five divisions of the State, adding that names of successful and accredited agents would be published across the media for the general public awareness.

From left: Special Adviser to Mr. Governor on eGIS and Urban Development, Dr. Olajide Babatunde , Arc. Gbolahan Oki , GM LASBCA and Chief Resilience Officer Lagos State, Dr. Folayinka Dania

“The shortlisted Accreditors will be divided into Districts for better coverage of all the 20 LGs and 37 LCDAs of the State and they will be distributed and placed based on the numbers of building developments in that area for a seamless monitoring and stage inspections process”, he added

*He further emphasized that the State Government has the capability to carry out LASBCA’s Core Mandate but lack enough capacity for full implementation of the set goals hence, the creation of CAP.*

Olajide also hinted that the Monitoring Officers (Accreditors) will also be monitored by the State Government in order to curb excesses through unscheduled visits to sites, whistle blowing mechanism, amongst others, warning that any one that is found guilty of breaching the rules and reegulations of the Programme would be dully punished by law.

The General Manager of LASBCA, Arc. Gbolahan Owodunni Oki in his address implored prospective participants to bring their vast experience and professionalism to play for better service delivery and full actualization of set goals and objectives.

Oki further reaffirmed the State Government’s readiness and support of CAP through the provision of 60 Monitoring and Inspections vehicles by the State government in addition to the deployment of additional 67 Police Officers to the 60 already on ground to guarantee safety while on operations .

The Chief Resilience Officer of the State, Dr. Folayinka Dania in her remarks enjoined the Accreditors of their full collaboration in achieving a resilient city through their adherence to the State laid down rules and regulations for better service delivery.

One of the who be Accreditors, Engr. Wasiu Olokuola applauded the State Government’s creation of CAP and promised full dedication and commitment to the work process.

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele has assured Nigerians that the ongoing economic reforms by the Bola Ahmed administration are beginning to yield good results.

Oyedele gave the assurance in his speech while enlightening the audience on the benefits of the ongoing reforms on The Platform organised by the Covenant Nation on Saturday.

He emphasised that removing petrol subsidies is the best decision Nigeria could ever make.

“Removing subsidies is the best decision we made as a country. And we can now say that for once, subsidy is gone.

“We were living on window-dressed realities. If you look back to about two years ago, naira exchange rate was N450 depending on who you asked. But was our exchange rate really N450? If you wanted to buy petrol, it was under N200 per litre, but was it really under N200 per litre? “There wasnt band A at the time. Electricity was what time at the time, but was that really the price? A country can afford to sell petrol at N200 per litre if you can afford it. But there is everything wrong if you can not afford it.

“I am a parent and will like to send my kids to school. If I can afford a school of N200 million her term, no problem. But if I cannot, they will do just first term and wont be able to continue their education. Maybe they should go to a school of N200, 000 per term.

“So, Nigeria was doing worse than it ought to, and then we had this sense of “our economy was not doing great”. We thought thsat our economy is the largest in Africa.

“Our GDP was around N450 million dollars. We thought our per capita income is about $2, 000 per person but it was not up to that.

“Nigeria used all its revenue to service debts. We were not paying debts back o. we were just servicing it. In order what, everything other thing we did, from paying salaries to fighting Boko Haram, we were just borrowing.

“When Nigeria borrowed, we borrowed high digits and those were the funds we were using to run the economy and service debts.

“If anybody was not losing his sleep with just that alone, then, he must be from another planet. The outcome of what was happening was predictable. It was a Sri Lanka happening to us. It was a Venezuela.

“Their countries were that- you would hold money and you wouldn’t be able to get fuel to buy. There was a tile in Sri Lanka that you couldn’t drive your car everyday of the week because there was no fuel.

“Our GDP growth rate was very low. Over the past ten years less than 10 per cent. If you do it in real time, it was negative.

He explained that the Nigerian government had resorted to printing of money to spend, which according to him was the worst any country could ever do.

“Ways and Means was high. We were printing money to spend. We couldn’t borrow abroad because they said lending us was risky. We didn’t have cash flow. And the capacity to borrow locally was low. So we were printing money to spend, and that is even dangerous.

“We printed close to N40 trillion naira plus interest. And we were surprised there was inflation. Nigerians don’t realise that the invisible controls the visible. And that is because the removal of subsidies is not seen physically. It is not something you can touch.

“Even some airlines stopped flying to Nigeria because of the backlog of FX debt to foreign airlines.

He advised Nigerians to have a positive outlook on the country.

“There is nothing wrong with Nigeria. But maybe there is something wrong with the people ruling Nigeria.

“In America, people get killed every day by gunmen. But have you ever heard Americans say “May America never happen to you?’

Let’s stop saying “May Nigeria never happen to you’. Maybe we can turn it into “May Nigeria work for me”

“Going by available data, I personally believe that the worst is behind us, he said.

Since assuming office in May 2023, President Tinubu has implemented a number of reforms such as the removal of fuel subsidies and introduction of the controversial tax bills.

The removal of fuel subsidies has since spiralled into increase in prices of goods and services.

The pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, have risen to between N1,050 and N1,150/litre depending on the area of purchase, following the hike in the cost of the commodity by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and various depot owners.

Dealers confirmed that PMS prices would continue to rise since the major component in fuel production, crude oil, has been on the upward swing lately.

The National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Festus Osifo, earlier alluded to this when he pointed out that petrol prices might soon rise if the cost of crude oil continued to increase.

“The crude price rose to $80 per barrel today (Thursday). Without exchange rate improvements, PMS prices will increase in the coming weeks,” Osifo stated in Lagos.

On Friday, there was an upward adjustment in the price of petrol produced by the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery.

The $20bn plant raised its PMS from N899/litre to N955/litre at its loading gantry.

The refinery, in an email statement sent to its customers and obtained by one of our correspondents, said its refined products would now be priced at the new cost.


It noted that marketers buying between two million and 4.99 million litres would now buy at N955/litre, while five million litres and above would buy at N950/litre.

The amount marks an increase of N55.5 or 6.17 per cent from N899.50/litre announced as a holiday discount for Nigerians last December.

This adjustment applies to all stock balances yet to be lifted by the stated time, while pending stock as of the effective time will also be repriced at the updated rates.

The statement added that the new price regime took effect from 5:30pm on Friday.

The notice, titled, ‘Communication on PMS Price Review’, read, “Dear esteemed customer, Trust this email finds you well.

“Kindly be advised that effective from 5:30 pm today (Friday), an upward adjustment has been implemented on the gantry price of Premium Motor Spirit. Quantity Previous Price (NGN/Litre): 2 million-9.99 million – N899.50; 10 million litres & above – N895.

“Quantity New Price (NGN/ Litre): 2 million – 4.99 million – N955; 5 million litres & above – N950.


“Please note that all stock balances yet to be lifted as of the above-stated time are to be repriced at the new reviewed prices. We shall communicate with customers on their revised volumes based on the reviewed prices, in due course.”

The price increase sparked widespread effects on the downstream petroleum sector, particularly private depots and retail markets.

Findings showed that private depots, despite having old stocks, increased their loading costs to N970 in Lagos and N1,000 in Calabar.

A breakdown analysing petrol price movements at loading depots after the announcement of the new price showed that Sahara depot increased its loading price by N20 to N970/litre from N950/litre on Thursday.

Pinnacle Depot increased its price to N970 from N921, while Wosbab Depot made a similar change to N965 from the N940 it sold a litre of petrol on Thursday.

NIPCO increased its loading costs by N30 to N980 from N950 on Thursday.

Also, a private depot, Rainoil, increased its loading costs to N970 from N950. A private depot, Alkanes, in Calabar, asked retailers to pay N1,000/litre to receive products.


Zone 4 and Mainland depots increased their loading costs to N1,005/litre from N985, which sold products on Thursday.