The Nigerian Minister of State for Works, Housing and Urban Development, Grace Ekpiwhre, admitted on Tuesday that the National Building Code was a total failure.
The minister, who spoke at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Housing and Habitat in Abuja, also lamented that two years after the Building Code Advising Committee has not met once.
The committee comprises a chairman and 19 members and is responsible for the periodic review of the code, among other things.
The committee’s tenure is three years and is required by the code to meet at least twice a year.
Mrs. Ekpiwhre said a lack of funds stalled any plans of the committee to meet.
The building code was put in place in 2007 to check abuse and disaster in the construction industry.
It was also aimed at halting the collapse of buildings in the country.
Mrs. Ekpiwhre stated that the provisions of the code have yet to be effected in most states of the federation, despite the fact that all state governments were represented from the preparatory stages to the final presentation to the National Council of States.
She expressed satisfaction with the proposed bills to enforce the provisions, describing them as timely.
She, however, urged the lawmakers to ensure developers and operators’ comply with existing ethics.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Habitat, Garba Shehu Matazu, said the proposed bills would produce the Building Code Act and the Building Supervision Act that would unleash the potential energy for the growth and development of the economy.
According to him, a figure from the Ministry of Housing suggests that Nigeria has a housing deficit of 17 million.
Other laws, according to the chairman, that required immediate legislative attention in order to sanitise the construction industry and the building environment include the Land Use Act of 1979 and the Urban and Regional Planning Laws of 1992.
The Speaker of the House, Dimeji Bankole, who declared open the public hearing urged stakeholders in the construction industry to support the bills.