L-R: Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Engr. Oluwole Sotire; Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on e-GIS and Planning Matters, Dr. Olajide Babatunde; Chairman, ENL-NOVA LTD, Mr. Mike Chukwu and Deputy CEO of ENL-NOVA LTD, Mr. Peter Afam, during a Contract Signing Ceremony between the Ministry and the company at Alausa in Lagos
Francesca Odimgbe
The Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development has signed a contract with ENL-NOVA Ltd for the use of the Electronic Physical Planning Processing System (EPPPS) to bring about positive change for land administration in the State.
The Ministry in its bid to embrace a One-Stop solution, which will consist of Business Processes for all the Physical Planning Technical departments and units as well as its agencies, engaged ENL-NOVA Ltd to design, develop and deploy a sustainable One-Stop process through the EPPPS towards achieving holistic full automation of physical planning processes in tandem with THEMES agenda of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration in Lagos State.
The contract was signed by the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on e-GIS and Planning Matters, Dr. Olajide Babatunde; Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Engr. Oluwole Sotire and Deputy CEO of ENL-NOVA Ltd, Mr. Peter Afam.
Speaking during the Contract Signing Ceremony held at Alausa in Lagos, Dr. Babatunde said the EPPPS will bring about a sustainable One-Stop process for enhanced service delivery to Lagos residents and bring a change to the face of land administration in the State.
He said the EPPPS is a new initiative that would ensure full automation of the construction planning process in Lagos State, adding that it will also enhance e-service delivery, online submissions of applications, e-screening, e-assessment, e-payment, e-site inspection, e-planning, complaint mechanism, accountability and transparency of Physical Planning permits and processes.
Babatunde disclosed that about 500 computers would be provided to advance the project with a lot of benefits which include robust online submission of applications for e-screening, assessment, payment, planning, and site inspection, enhance Ease of Doing Business in the State as well as effective and efficient web-based service delivery.
He said: “I feel particularly happy today because, with this project, it means that seamlessly with minimum human interaction, you can get building approval from Lagos State. You can input your drawings into a system and the system can approve them within 10 minutes. That is a major landmark. It would be first for Lagos again among all the 36 states and the FCT.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of ENL-NOVA Ltd, Mr. Mike Chukwu, thanked God and commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for making the project a reality. He appealed for the cooperation of all the stakeholders and the public toward the success of the project.
Chukwu pledged to deliver on the project to meet the aspirations and yearnings of Lagosians for enhanced delivery, promising that his company would not fail the Lagos State Government and the residents of the State who were looking forward to an enhanced service
“We are very excited. This is a project that has been in the work for a very long time. It promises a lot for the people of Lagos State. We are hoping to reform the system of physical planning and upgrade it so that it will be properly integrated across all the facets of its good planning and most importantly, it will also help and enhance revenue collection for Lagos State Government and block leakages,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Engr. Oluwole Sotire described the project as one of the pillars of the THEMES developmental agenda of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s aim at leveraging technology.
“This is the beginning of a new journey for us and we are all excited. We believe that in the next few months, we will begin to see the effects of the Contract Signing Ceremony,” he said.