Ayefele: We followed due process
BY TAIWO FAROTIMI
Yinka Ayefele, Ibadan-based gospel musician is at war with the Oyo State government over plans to demolish his office complex, the Music House located along Lagos-Ibadan bye-pass at the Challenge area of Ibadan. The state government had served notice on the company for contravening the original plan, and refusing to honour its demand for an application for a modified plan.
A Facebook post on Wednesday by David Ajiboye, director of corporate affairs of Fresh FM, an ace broadcast medium in the capital city, on the matter had stirred controversy. Ajiboye stated that government targeted the building that houses Fresh FM because, “the staff canteen in the premises was not approved, the spiral staircase was not in the approved plan, the mast was not in the approved plan and the fence was not in the approved plan”.
Ajiboye then notified the public about the expiration of the notice for demolition says, “Therefore, the entire N800 million edifice where almost 150 people make their daily bread has to go down. You are all invited to the demolition show at the Music House tomorrow.” Ajiboye is right on the parts of the building that the government frowned at, but the whole exercise may not be as simple as he put it. The government says it is looking at the safety aspect and the fact that it’s laws were not adhered to and the Music House, which houses the radio station had ignored its advice over time.
The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun promptly denied that the decision to demolish the building was based on sentiment.
According to him, the Music House was not the only establishment issued with government notice. He also added that Ayefele’s company had ignored government warning since last year, for the remodeling of the old plan which did not indicate the inclusion of a radio station in the building. There was also the issue of the inadequate setback, as Arulogun said there have been reports of three accidents in the area within nine months.
According to Arulogun, several companies and institutions, such as the University of Ibadan (UI), Kola Daisi University, University College Hospital (UCH), banks and radio stations, were similarly asked to provide their approved plans. He said some structures belonging to some of those institutions were demolished for failing to conform with the laws of Bureau of Physical Planning and Development Control.
The commissioner said that following some correspondences last year and an inspection, the state discovered that the building now in use by the Music House is at variance with the approved plan, and asked it to submit a fresh application that will rectify the anomaly, but he said Ayefele’s company chose to ignore the advice.
He said the three-day notice for demolition issued on August 13, 2018 was because, as he said, the Music House “deliberately” ignored an earlier notice dated June 29.
Ajiboye had in a statement confirmed that the issue had been on in since 2012.
Ayefele however, countered the official explanation. In a statement issued in Ibadan, Ayefele said, “We want to make it clear that Music House followed due process in the construction of the building and got relevant approvals from state departments and agencies associated with land and buildings.
“Saying that Music House complex is responsible for three accidents that occurred on the road in the last nine months is just an attempt by the commissioner to run away from his shadow. How can a reasonable person say that?
“It is not news that the governor himself said some politicians came to him to demolish the Music House complex because Ayefele is not in their camp and he also sang against them…”.
A government source expressed concern that rather than tackle the issues at stake, the management of Music House resorted to whipping up sentiment.
What the management of Music House did not address, as shown in the letters in possession of The Crest, include issues raised on airspace, conversion of basement and a toilet to hall and offices respectively. It has also not shown proof of its response to the report of the inspection and the verdict of the government that the actual structure had deviated from the approved plan. The government is also insisting that its law on citing of a radio station and the mast have been violated.
The argument of the government is that the Music House is yet to respond to the demand for an application for a fresh building plan that reflects the structure on ground.
