By Lateef Odegbenle
Lagos state government says it has, in the last six years, widened the Planning Permit net with the approval of more buildings in Lagos State.
This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide on Wednesday during the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing of the Office of Physical Planning at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.
The commissioner hinted that the Lagos State Government, through the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, LASPPPA, has, in the last six years, granted a total of 37, 266 Approvals for various uses, including residential, commercial, mixed-use, and institutional, among others, adding that in 2024 alone, LASPPPA granted Approvals for 95 Hospitals, 27 Petrol Filling Stations, 151 Shoping Malls, and 95 Schools, among others.
Olumide said that LASPPPA surpaced its pre-amnesty window record of 2,201 approvals by 6,655 as it granted a total of 8, 856 approvals between May and December, 2024, while the Amnesty window was on.
The Commissioner, who expressed satisfaction at the success of the Amnesty Programme, designed to allow owners and developers of existing buildings without approvals regularise their property, said that the Sanwo-Olu Administration successfully encouraged more property owners to regularise their buildings as application and Approval rate swelled during the Amnesty window that lasted for 180 days.
His words: “The amnesty window was divided into three phases, yielding impressive results: for the first phase (May-July 2024), LASPPPPA granted 2,151 approvals; the second phase, (August-October 2024) witnessed a total of 6,402 applications out of which 3,570 approvals were granted; and the third phase (November-December 2024) recorded 7,210 applications and 3,135 approvals, bringing the total Amnesty Period achievements to 18,489 applications and 8,856 Approvals, respectively. ”
He added that the two months that followed the Amnesty window, that is, January and February 2025, recorded a combined 1,369 approvals against 2,084 applications.
He urged property owners and developers to always seek the Planning Information service of the Ministry and guide against factors causing delays in Approval, such as non- compliance with zonning regulations, exceeding permissible limits, and deviation from Master Plan, among others.
The commissioner added that the state has continued to foster the growth and development of its local communities through the preparation and implementation of Lower Order Plans that draw strengths from the various Master and Model City Plans.
He said Lower Order Plans such as Development Guide Plans,Action Area Plans,Neighbourhood Plans give detailed Plan contents, including designating specific areas for roads, schools, housing, and businesses, while Layout Plans give plot to plot level details.
He revealed: “In the last two years, the Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu led Administration has prepared Development Guide Plans for nine excised villages in Ibeju-Lekki, Eti-Osa, Badagry,Alimosho Local Government Areas of the State, namely Awoyaya, Orimedu, Eleputu, Sangotedo, Apa and Ketu-Ejirin as well as Subreu-Oje, Langbasa and Onikoyi”.
In the same vein, the State Government, through the Office of Physical Planning, granted 154 provisional Layout Approvals and 32 final Layout Approvals to both public and private estates to guide their sustainable development.
Beyond estate Layout Plan Approval and Development Guide Plans, the Office of Physical Planning also played a key role in supporting the infrastructure development project of the Sanwo-Olu Administration by delivering project sites free of encumbrances.
“To date, we have delivered the Right of Way (RoW) of 86 different projects across the State, including critical road infrastructure in Alimosho, Agege and Eti-Osa, Ikorodu, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Somolu and Kosofe Local Government Areas, among others”, he said.
