In May 2022 online users woke up to a story by Vanguard Newspaper that OSGF has ordered SON to vacate Lekki office before end of June this year or be thrown out.
In the report, “The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has been ordered to vacate its operational Headquarters building in Lekki, Lagos before the end of June, 2022 or be thrown out.
The building is owned by the Raw Materials, Research and Development Council.
The quit order was given by a Committee set up by the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government, OSGF, to implement a decision that SON relocates from the building which it has occupied since 2001 following allocation by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
A source privy to the Committee’s deliberation said a formal letter from the OSGF had since been delivered to SON to vacate the building by December of 2021 but the Organisation had been reluctant thus stalling the RMRDC from implementing its mandate.”
The paper also reports, “the Committee Chairman, who is a Director in the Office of the OSGF, according to the source, was emphatic that the quit order was sequel to the refusal of SON representatives on the Committee to commit to a definite date when the entire property would be handed over to RMRDC even though some part of it were handed over sometime in March 2022.
According to the source, the issue had been lingering for many years with SON always insisting that it had nowhere to relocate its staff which it claimed are about 450. The organisation had lately been hanging on requests for the allocation of some of the forfeited properties to the Federal Government even though the Order from the OSGF clearly states that the quit notice was definite.
The paper further reports “It would be interesting to see how the quit order would be effected as our source claimed that the Police may be drafted in to forcefully eject SON staff once the June date elapses.”
With the country concentrating on the coming 2023 presidential elections, will the notice be effected by the end of June? Where will SON relocate to? Let’s hear your opinion in the comment section.
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