By YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE

The structure of the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, which is the oldest High Court in Nigeria and one of the buildings burnt by hijackers of the #EndSARS protest on October 21, 2020 was on Wednesday pulled down as the Lagos State Rebuilding Trust Fund begun reconstruction works on the building.

It will be recalled that hoodlums had during the protest invaded the court; carting away computers, printers, files, fans, air conditioners and other items before setting the court on fire and fled. They also destroyed the nearby Igbosere Magistrates' Court, world-class Forensic DNA Centre (West Africa's first), police stations and other public and private infrastructure across Lagos.

On Wednesday, two excavators were seen demolishing the remaining part of the structure as part of efforts to reconstruct the court.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had on November 4, 2020, signed an Executive Order to establish an eight-man Lagos State Rebuilding Trust Fund, headed by Mr. Yemi Cardoso to rebuild the razed edifice.

Last year, Cardoso, as the chairman of the Lagos State Rebuilding Trust Fund, had informed the public that the Fund which started off as a government binge is now a public-private partnership, adding that "It is now a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), which has its own status and laws for procurement policies and others. The governance and the legality of it will obviously face its own time.

“If it is a committee of government, it would have started work immediately but in this case, you have to ensure that it goes through CAC and other necessary procedure,” Cardoso said.

Enquiries about the timeline and cost of the rebuilding project has not been made public as of the time of filing this report but the grapevine revealed that the project had commenced and the committee will officially brief the press at a later date.

Other members of the rebuilding committee are the Managing Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi LP, Konyinsola Ajayi; Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman; Co-Founder and CEO, Flutterwave, Gbenga Agboola; Vice Chairman, Standard Chartered Bank, Bola Adesola – all representing the private sector – and a representative of an International Donor Agency.

The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Sam Egube, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Jimi Hotonou, are the members on the board representing the public sector

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