Victor EzejaProfessor of Political Economy, Prof. Pat Utomi, has alleged that former governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, abruptly terminated his agreement with Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation (OPIC), that made him and his South Africa partners lose N200 million.
Utomi, who stated this in a post via his X handle on Sunday, said the agreement was reached when Gbenga Daniel was governor of the South-west state but Amosun revoked it immediately after he was sworn in as governor.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAmosun was the governor of Ogun from 29th May 2011, to 29th May 2019.
OPIC is a statutory corporation that focuses on the development of residential, commercial, and industrial real estate projects in the state and beyond.
He said all efforts to resolve the problem proved abortive, making him lose his South African partners, who became weary of the deal, while he struggled to pay off the loans taken to raise the money invested in the project.
Utomi, who is the founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL), stated this while reacting to news about Nigeria’s three presidential jets seized by a Chinese firm through a court order in France last week because of an alleged contract violation by the Ogun State government when Amosun was governor.
Prime Business Africa reports that the Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, claimed that it lost money when the contract sealed with Ogun State government for the management of Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ) was abruptly terminated in 2016.
The incident of detaining the presidential jet to enable the company recover about $70 million awarded by an arbitration panel against Nigeria, sparked nationwide uproar, with many describing it as an international embarrassment to the country.
READ ALSO: Legal Dispute Or Hostile Conspiracy? Nigeria Questions Chinese Firm’s Seizure Of Presidential Jets
Amosun had responded to the incident, claiming that the Chinese company presented false information to the state government during his tenure as Ogun governor, leading to his termination of the contract in 2016.
Reacting to the incident, Utomi said: “So it was Governor Amosun’s violation of contract terms signed by his predecessor that brought the shame of seizure of jets from the Presidential fleet. I hope he is happy at his achievement’. The whole matter is Khama at work.”
He said the Chinese were not the only victims. According to him, an indigene of the state allegedly committed suicide because of similar action by Amosun.
Continuing he said: “I too was a victim. I had leased OPIC land in Lagos in a BOT agreement under Gov Daniel. Amosun stopped all such on being sworn in.
“My South African partners and I had invested 200m in addition to the lease amount at the time.”
READ ALSO: Ogun Vs Chinese Firm Contract Dispute: Why Nigerian Govt Is Vicariously Liable
The political economist further stated that he made several efforts for out-of-court settlement, including taking the matter to the then APC leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Bisi Akande and even the current Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, but no result.
“If this happened to a friend, I wondered what enemies were going through. I lost my weary SA partners who owned a successful regional chain across Southern Africa and Asia.
“I licked my wounds and slaved to pay off the loans. Utomi lamented. “The Chinese had better leverage. They took it and all are shamed.”
He recounted a similar case he had in Enugu which has prompted him to write a book titled “Power Policy Politics and Performance” to document the experience. With the cases of contract violations by the political class, Utomi asked “When shall we learn,” and ended his tweet by emphasising that “Values shape human progress.”
Utomi was declared not wanted by Ogun Assembly – Amosun
However, Amosun responded to Utomi’s claim of contract violation, saying the Ogun State Assembly had passed a resolution declaring that Utomi was no longer wanted in the state before he became governor.
According to him, the Assembly alleged that Utomi was involved in a shoddy business deal in the state.
“Before I came into office, the Ogun State house of assembly had passed a persona non grata on Utomi and put its resolution in the state’s black book,” Amosun stated.
The former governor said he had after assuming office, called Utomi to find out what happened to his business with the state government and the latter told him there was a controversy over ongoing construction in a property of the state at the time.
Amosun said he raised a team to verify what happened in the investment.
“The team I sent said the land was inappropriate because the said construction was being done in the car park of the Ogun property on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Road in Lagos State. My team then suggested somewhere else.
“But he didn’t want another place because, according to him, the place in question gave more visibility. After our in-house assessment, my team concluded he could not have spent more than N35m, or at most, N50m, on the construction as of then. At that point, I decided to visit myself.
“In addition, it was discovered that the so-called work done was hurriedly executed in the wake of the realisation that another political party had won the governorship election and would take over the reins of leadership in the state.”
The former governor further claimed that “It was also obvious that what was being attempted was a move at ambushing the state government under my watch and presenting us with a Fait Accompli, a situation that would have generated a controversy about the demolition of an ongoing project.”
Amosun, who alleged that Utomi asked for a refund of N100 million for his investment, boasted that he served Ogun State with all his strength and stand by all his decisions.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
