ABBANOBI-EKU ONYEKA, ABUJA
Director General (DG), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim says that, the agency under his watch is currently, developing new procedures in line with its Act, and in collaboration with other relevant bodies, ensure that materials used in construction projects across the country, meet the required standards.
In a press release from SON signed by the Deputy Director, Public Relations, Bola Fashina, the DG advocated strong consequences for all standards infractions, stressing that it is necessary to promote voluntary compliance in Nigeria, as in other countries. He therefore stated that SON requires the continuous support and collaboration of all Nigerians, other agencies and professional organisations to deliver on its mandate to the Nation.
Condoling with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the people of Lagos State on the unfortunate high-rise building collapse at Ikoyi and the attend loss of lives, he also commiserated with the families of the dead and injured and called on all Nigerians, particularly authorities responsible for approvals and regulations to strictly adhere to approved Standards in the discharge of their duties.
While describing the incident as avoidable, Salim commended the Lagos State Government for setting up a panel of inquiry to unravel the root cause of the collapse and offered his organisation’s technical support in view of its mandate and abundance of competence in such investigation. He pointed out that Section 5 (1) b of the SON Act No. 14 of 2015 charges the organisation to “Undertake investigation as necessary into the quality of facilities, systems, services, materials and products, whether imported or manufactured in Nigeria”.
He also pointed at Section 5 (2) of the Act which states that “For purposes of uniformity of Standards in Nigeria, all Regulatory Agencies or Organisations dealing with matters pertaining to or related to Standards shall do so in collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria”.
He quoted Part IX (48) of the Miscellaneous Provisions in the SON Act thus “In every government procurement, where compliance with standards is a requirement, no payment for execution for such contract shall be made unless compliance to the relevant standards have been verified by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria”.
He said that SON Officials had visited the site to commence investigation by taking among others, samples of iron rods, concrete mix for Laboratory tests and analysis.
