‘He Felt He Was Above The Law’ — Gov Abiodun Slams Gbenga Daniel For Playing Victim Card After Demolition Of N1Billion Property

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has reacted to the accusation of vindictiveness, following the demolition of a five-storey building, which belongs to a former governor of the state, Senator Gbenga Daniel and his wife, Olufunke.

The five-storey building, DATKEM Plaza, which is located at Folagbade Street, Ijebu Ode, was partially demolished in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Project Manager and Developer of the project, Olusegun Lawal, on Sunday, said the state government gave the owner of the property only a three-day notice.

According to Lawal, the structure has full approval, adding that construction started in 2009 and is scheduled for commissioning at the end of this month.

The project manager informed that about 80 brand new Split Airconditioners have just been installed in the building, 150kVA generator set and transformer in place with Fire Fighting System installed as well.

Lawal who gave the building cost to be around N1 billion, said that the state government listed inadequate parking space, muster point and airspace as the reasons for the demolition.

There have been accusations in some quarters that the exercise had a political undertone. But reacting to the demolition on Monday, after inspecting the 8-kilometre Mowe-Ofada Road, in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state, Abiodun said the exercise carried was in line with the laws of the state.

According to the governor, necessary steps were taken by government officials when contraventions were observed in the course of constructing the edifice.

Abiodun warned that the state government will not tolerate lawlessness and the violation of the state’s building codes.

He said: “Let me take you down memory lane. The purported owner of this property, when I assumed office in 2019, had a property in Abeokuta. It was meant to be a hotel. My predecessor had sealed that property for eight years. He had issued a stop order. He was going to demolish that building but for my intervention. I pleaded with him. That building remained under lock and key until I resumed office. The first day I was sworn in was the very day the owner moved into that property for the first time in eight years. And today, the property is called the Conference Hotel in Abeokuta.

“How do you now begin to accuse the same me that facilitated the completion of that project despite different court actions that were brought then, despite different charges by the EFCC that were hanging around the project. I actually commissioned that project alongside the former vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. You are now trying to use media, trying to attract unnecessary sympathy, playing the underdog that I, Dapo Abiodun, demolished a property that first I didn’t know it was yours; your name is not on that property. You never came forward to say this property is yours.

“You expect that someone, who is a serving senator, a former governor of this state, would show a level of more responsibility. I have said it that I, Dapo Abiodun, if I have a building that violates the building code, bring it down.

“And by this, I am sending a strong warning to all of us across the state. There are many of you who have buildings without approvals. There are many of you who don’t even have C of O. If you have built without approvals, the long arm of the law will soon be catching up with you. We will not tolerate lawlessness in this state. We will not be defined by lawlessness and half hazard development when you just build anyhow.”

The governor noted that the state does not have a set of laws for the common man and the VIP, adding that nobody is above the law.

Abiodun stated that the owners of DATKEM Plaza were sent a demolition order, which they did not respond to.

“First I can assure you that our physical planning team do not have the responsibility of unmasking who the owner of a company is. It is beyond their mandate. As far as they know, a company called DATKEM had applied for approval to erect a five-story building. That approval was filed in 2009, way beyond our administration. But sometime in 2022, a contravention notice was sent to the owners of DATKEM.

“In Ogun State and in Nigeria, we don’t have a set of laws for the common man and the VIP. That is not the way it works. There is one law for everybody. Nobody is above the law. And the law is not the respecter of VIPs or VIPPs. So, they sent the contravention notice to DATKEM, regardless of who the owner of DATKEM was, which was not their priority. After they sent that contravention notice in May 2022, they sent a stop order notice to DATKEM, saying you are in contravention, stop working on this project until you come and correct these contraventions. They followed that stop order with another stop order. They sent a violation order. They sealed the premises.

“The owners of DATKEM in their minds must have felt they were above the law. It smirks of impunity if the Ministry of Physical Planning sends you a contravention order, sends you a seal order and you continue with the construction in violation of the safety of all of us in Ogun State.

“They sent you a demolition order, you still did not respond. You begin to sneak into the building at night, you begin to work there. You begin to attempt to grease palms so that they can overlook your contraventions. But, of course, a day of reckoning will always come,” he said.

The state government, through the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, had said DATKEM Plaza, is an illegal structure without an approved plan.

The structure, the state government added, also contravened the state’s physical planning laws.

According to the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Engr. Olayiwola Abiodun, the structure violated the building codes of the state with numerous defects.

Daniel and Governor Abiodun have reportedly been bickering over alleged betrayal of trust.

Daniel, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, was accused of working against the re-election of Abiodun.

Daniel was said to have picked the APC ticket for Ogun East senatorial district through the support of the governor, with the intention that he would support him (Abiodun) in return.

The former governor won comfortably in the senatorial district, but Abiodun did not do well in the area, but won his re-election with slim margin, after polling 276,298 votes in the March 18 governorship election in the state.