A phone-screen repairer operating from a stall on Otigba Street, Ikeja, faces a difficult business decision, whether to keep investing in the shop or prepare to move to a new location whose development and allocation arrangements remain uncertain.
That uncertainty surrounds the proposed relocation of Computer Village from Ikeja to Katangowa in the Agbado/Oke-Odo area of Lagos State, a project announced in 2017 that has yet to materialise nearly a decade later.
The dispute over who will develop the proposed Katangowa ICT Business Park has added another layer of uncertainty for traders whose businesses depend on established customer relationships, accessible locations and affordable shop space.
On June 28, 2026, Nairametrics reported that Bridgeways Global Projects Ltd., the company originally appointed to handle the project, said a recent Lagos State High Court judgment had revived its position in the long-delayed development.
Bridgeways Managing Director Jimmy Onyemenam told the News Agency of Nigeria that the judgment affirmed the company’s contractual and proprietary rights in the project. He said the dispute would proceed to mediation to determine outstanding financial obligations, compensation and the restoration of the company’s entitlements.
However, Bridgeways’ account of the ruling does not, by itself, establish that construction has resumed or that the company has been formally reinstated as the developer.
The dispute followed the Lagos State Government’s announcement in 2024 that it had terminated its contract with Bridgeways over alleged non-performance.
According to Nairametrics’ June 28 report, the government had also warned against collecting money from prospective occupants through the company or its representatives, saying the state would take over management of the project pending further notice.
The government said it would identify affected subscribers and determine the amounts they had paid as part of efforts to secure refunds. Bridgeways subsequently challenged the termination in court under Suit No. ID/7902GCM/2024, involving Bridgeways Global Projects Ltd. and the Lagos State Government, among other parties.
The reports reviewed for this story did not include a response from the state government to Bridgeways’ account of the latest judgment. The ruling’s practical implications for the project’s management and the possibility of an appeal therefore remain unclear.
Meanwhile, the state has continued to publicly advance the relocation plan.
At a stakeholders’ meeting on Otigba Street on September 22, 2025, Gbolahan Oki, then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, said the government was accelerating work on the proposed ICT and Business Park.
A September 23, 2025, statement on the Lagos State Government’s website said the planned facilities included hotels, banking halls, recreation centres, car parks, a fire station, a police post and access roads.
The state also gave traders an 18-month relocation window, according to a report published by The PUNCH on September 24, 2025. If calculated from the September 2025 announcement, that period would end around March 2027.
The deadline, however, does not establish that the new market will be ready to accommodate every trader by that date.
The uncertainty is particularly important because traders have previously said they were not directly informed about the contract termination before learning of it through news reports.
In April 2024, traders told Nairametrics they had not received official communication from either the government or the developer about the termination. The demolition of the former Katangowa Market was also linked to the relocation plan in an August 2024 report by Pulse.
For traders, the issue extends beyond the legal dispute. Relocating an established business can mean losing walk-in customers, paying new rents and transport costs, and rebuilding relationships with suppliers and buyers.
The unresolved questions include who will control the allocation and pricing of shops at Katangowa, how payments already made by prospective occupants will be treated, and what protection traders will have if the relocation deadline arrives before the new market is ready.
Until the government clarifies the project’s management and publishes a credible transition plan, traders may struggle to make informed decisions about their leases, investments and livelihoods.
