Lagos deputy governor locked out of disputed Osborne Foreshore building site
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Residents of Osborne Foreshore Phase II Estate in Ikoyi allege planning and environmental breaches by developer Kenshad International, which they say refused the Lagos deputy governor entry to its Abba Court site.
A visit by Lagos State Deputy Governor Kadri Obafemi Hamzat to a disputed construction site at Osborne Foreshore Phase II Estate in Ikoyi ended in confrontation on Saturday, 31 October 2026, after the developer, Kenshad International Limited, did not open the gates to the property.
Hamzat, leading a government delegation following complaints by residents, reportedly waited more than 30 minutes at the entrance to the development known as Abba Court on Mahogany Close. The developer has dismissed suggestions that it deliberately locked out the government team.
At a meeting tagged the Osborne Phase II Residents and Public Leaders Dialogue, residents accused the developer of building beneath high-tension electricity lines, laying concrete slabs over a canal and carrying out sand-filling that narrowed water outlets in the estate. They warned that obstructing the canal could disrupt water flow, undermine drainage and raise flooding risk for adjoining communities.
Residents also alleged an unauthorised rear entrance into the estate, said to be used to bring in people to intimidate those opposed to the construction, and said soldiers, police personnel and officials of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had been involved in attempts to harass them. They asked the state government to investigate the company and its owner, Ken Ukaoha, and to scrutinise the legal basis of its claimed joint venture with the federal housing ministry.
Responding, Hamzat maintained that physical planning, land use and development control fall within the constitutional jurisdiction of state governments, and argued, citing Supreme Court decisions, that the Federal Government cannot unilaterally assume the functions of state planning authorities or issue building approvals in place of state agencies. He assured residents the state would investigate and act on its findings.
The standoff highlights a recurring friction in Lagos between state development control powers and federal-linked projects, and comes amid wider scrutiny of building approvals in the state following this year's collapses.