Days after Dapo Abiodun made headlines by announcing that he handed over 100 hectares of land to the Nigerian Navy to build a naval operating base and dockyard to develop the backwater Abigi community, the Ogun State governor has sent a letter demanding N7.5 billion as payment before issuing a certificate of occupancy.
The governor’s misleading announcement immediately won him accolades, including from defence minister Bello Matawalle, who issued a statement published on the defence ministry’s website, thanking the governor for his “generous donation of 100 hectares of land” situated within the Olokola Free Trade Zone and asked other governors to “emulate the laudable example set by the Governor of Ogun State.”
It was later revealed that what the governor represented as the final land allocation document on his Facebook page was merely a land survey, not the certificate of occupancy as he led the public to believe.
On August 8, a day before Mr Abiodun’s trip to the naval headquarters, Ogun State Bureau of Lands and Survey forwarded payment advice to the Nigerian Navy, demanding a N7.5 billion payment, according to documents seen by Peoples Gazette.
The bureau attached a breakdown of the N7.5 billion that included an annual ground rent of N20 million, a special infrastructural development fee of N750 million, a capital contribution of N2.25 billion, a premium was N4.5 billion, a government survey of N5.1 million with execution fee and other miscellaneous expenses.
Naval sources told The Gazette the payment won’t be made because the governor had given them the impression that he would issue the certificate of occupancy at no costs. They also decried the arbitrary charges the governor levied against them, saying the land at Olokola Free Trade Zone in Ogun Waterside had already been allocated during the Gbenga Daniel administration, which ended in 2011. Abigi community members gifted the land to the Nigerian Navy due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and to foster infrastructural development in the remote village.
The Gazette also reviewed a 2018 letter that appeared to show the Nigerian Navy’s management of the land well before Mr Abiodun became governor in May 2019.
The letter, titled “Authority to Oversee Nigerian Navy Land at Ogun Waterside”, with reference NHQ/HD: 015/87/94.VOL.IX/115, was sent on February 13, 2018, and detailed how the Nigerian Navy would continue administering the property.
The navy could not develop the land because previous presidents did not allocate funds for the naval base and dockyard.
Mr Daniel, who now chairs the Senate Committee on Navy, secured the first tranche of funds in the nation’s 2024 budget to begin constructing the base.
The navy already possessed the land survey and other relevant documents. Still, the Certificate of Occupancy had been deliberately withheld by Mr Abiodun, whose government was asking for N7.5 billion despite parroting the land transfer under the assumption it was free.
The payment advice stated that the N7.5 billion covered the terms of the grant for only 50 years and that the rent was subject to review every five years.
The advice raised questions of who or which entity the governor intended to pay the N4.5 billion premium he demanded from the Navy.
The misunderstanding echoed the confusion that led Aliko Dangote to relocate his billion-dollar refinery plant from the Olokola Free Trade Zone to the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
Mr Abiodun, who was made chair of the Free Trade Zone by his predecessor Ibikunle Amosun, said the Ogun lost the refinery to Lagos due to unresolved problems between Mr Dangote and his then-principal.
Last month, Mr Dangote implicitly admitted that the frustration he suffered at the hands of authorities in Ogun caused him to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The three years and eight months delay by Ogun State government over Olokola land for petrochemicals facility cost us $500 million,” Mr Dangote said during a media tour of the refinery in July.
That Mr Abiodun would organise a photo op session announcing his perceived donation of the hectares of land to the Nigerian Navy and then turn around to demand billions of naira as payment has stirred concerns and could strain relations between his government and the federal armed forces.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t know that the governor would do this to us, but we are hoping the matter can be resolved so that the allocation made for the land to be developed will not be trapped,” an official said anonymously to discuss the matter. The official also warned that there was no budget to settle the large amount Mr Abiodun demanded.
Abigi is a remote community where farming is the predominant occupation, and a plot of land could be purchased for as little as N100,000. A naval base and dockyard in the local community would significantly improve security and the quality of lives of community members.
Mr Abiodun and two senior aides did not respond to our requests to clarify why the administration imposed up to N7.5 billion in fees on the Nigerian Navy for a land allocation that a previous administration had all but finalised.
Credit: People’s Gazette
