The Ogun State Government has issued a firm warning to individuals and businesses violating setback regulations along major roads and expressways, declaring that illegal developments will no longer be tolerated.
The Commissioner for Physical and Urban Planning, TPL Tunji Odunlami, delivered the warning during a media briefing in Abeokuta over the weekend. He raised concerns about the rising number of shanties, makeshift stalls, and other unapproved structures encroaching on highway corridors, saying they distort the urban landscape and pose serious safety risks.
Odunlami urged property owners whose buildings face major highways and expressways to visit the Ministry of Physical and Urban Planning for proper guidance on removing illegal structures. He also announced a three-month amnesty programme for owners who built without obtaining planning permits, encouraging them to regularise their documents and avoid penalties.
The amnesty exercise, which began on November 1, 2025, will run until January 31, 2026. It is being coordinated from the ministry’s Oke-Mosan headquarters and 32 zonal planning offices across the state.
Highlighting areas with the highest level of violations, Odunlami listed the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway from Berger Bridge to Onigari; the Abeokuta–Sagamu Interchange Highway (Muhammadu Buhari Expressway); the Sagamu Interchange–Ajebandele section of the Sagamu–Benin Expressway; the Lagos–Abeokuta Highway from Ota Toll Gate to Bakatari; the Papalanto–Sagamu Interchange; the Ijebu-Ode–Mojoda (Epe) Highway; the Ogijo–Sagamu Highway, and several other major road corridors.
He explained that these illegal structures obstruct visibility, disrupt traffic flow, create safety hazards, deface the environment, and worsen drainage challenges.
Speaking further on the amnesty programme, the commissioner said it offers a 50 per cent reduction in penal fees and applies to residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and mixed-use properties.
He added that Governor Dapo Abiodun approved the initiative to encourage compliance with the Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law, ease financial pressure on property owners at the end of the year, and improve the state’s planning database for better infrastructure development.
“The amnesty programme provides an opportunity for those who have built without a planning permit to regularise their developments at a 50 per cent reduction in penal fees,” Odunlami said, stressing that the window closes on January 31, 2026.
