Former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has challenged Governor Dapo Abiodun’s claim that his administration rescued the President Muhammadu Buhari Estate in Abeokuta from possible forfeiture, describing the assertion as a distortion of the project’s history.
Amosun, in a statement issued on Monday by his media office, said the estate was already substantially completed before he left office in 2019 and accused the Abiodun administration of attempting to rewrite the history of projects executed by his government.
The statement, titled “The Rescue of PMB Estate by Gov Dapo Abiodun: The Limit of Falsehood”, said the estate’s infrastructure contract, valued at about N3.5 billion, had been fully mobilised and was approximately 95 per cent complete before the end of the Amosun administration.
The estate was developed on about 500 hectares of acquired land along the Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway, according to the statement.
It said about 170 hectares constituted the master-planned first phase, while approximately 50 hectares were developed as the pilot scheme.
The project was conceived as a Three Arms residential zone for members of the executive, legislature and judiciary, while the Ogun State Judicial Complex, located opposite the estate, was designed to complement the judges’ quarters.
Amosun’s media office said it had previously refrained from responding to what it described as repeated attempts by the Abiodun administration to take credit for projects undertaken by its predecessor.
It said the latest claim warranted a response because it allegedly went beyond political disagreement and amounted to an attack on Amosun’s personal integrity.
“Governance cannot remain a perpetual press conference about one’s predecessor,” the statement said, adding that every administration would eventually be judged by its own record.
Amosun cites 2016 commissioning
According to the former governor’s media office, major infrastructure at the estate had already been completed and inaugurated during Ogun State’s 40th anniversary celebrations by former President Muhammadu Buhari on 3 February 2016.
The infrastructure listed included 43 roads, street lighting, electricity distribution, water networks, drainage systems, a central sewage system, gas supply lines and fibre-optic cable ducts.
It also said a master plan covering commercial, multi-residential and school districts had been completed for the 170-hectare layout.
The statement maintained that infrastructure within the pilot area had reached about 95 per cent completion by May 2019 and said this was documented in the formal handover notes of the supervising ministry.
It further stated that the N3.5 billion infrastructure contract had been fully mobilised and that sufficient funds were available for the contractor, identified as ZCC, to complete the outstanding work.
Amosun therefore questioned the circumstances surrounding the reported legal dispute over the project.
“If the contractor had been fully mobilised, the infrastructure was already approximately 95 per cent complete, and sufficient funds remained available for the outstanding work, who then took the government to court and threatened seizure/forfeiture, and for what reason?” the statement asked.
The former governor said the government should clarify when the dispute arose, the amount allegedly owed to the contractor and how the project became exposed to possible forfeiture.
Amosun also cited the 2016 commissioning ceremony as evidence that substantial infrastructure was already in place before he left office.
He said Buhari had driven through the estate’s tarred roads with the street lights operating and had attended a state banquet at the location.
“A location without roads, electricity, drainage, access, central water and sewage system and substantial infrastructure could hardly have hosted such major events,” he said.
Questions over land allocations
The former governor’s media office also raised concerns about people who had acquired plots in the estate, particularly Nigerians living abroad.
It alleged that some allottees had certificates of occupancy, development approvals and other relevant documents but were now experiencing difficulties accessing or developing their properties.
The statement challenged the Abiodun administration to explain what infrastructure it had added to the estate that was not already in place.
It also demanded a comprehensive account of the status of the entire 500-hectare property.
“If the estate has genuinely been ‘rescued,’ the public deserves a comprehensive account of the condition of the entire 500 hectares,” the statement said.
It asked how much of the land remained intact, how much had been allocated or developed and whether any portion had been redesignated, encroached upon or become subject to disputes.
Amosun’s media office further alleged that the 108-unit housing project being promoted by the Abiodun administration, while describing it as a positive development, occupied less than one hectare of the 50 hectares for which infrastructure had previously been provided.
It also alleged that the site was originally designated for a primary school.
The statement raised a separate concern over the construction of the Access Bank Training School, claiming that land had previously been allocated and paid for at the Abeokuta City Centre beside the GTBank Training School building.
According to the statement, the training school was now being constructed in an area designated for the executive arm of government, including commissioners’ quarters.
It argued that the development had undermined the original Three Arms Zone concept and the wider master plan.
Abiodun administration says estate was rescued
The controversy follows a statement by Abiodun’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, which said the governor had rescued the PMB Estate from possible forfeiture and transformed the stalled project into a 108-unit residential community.
The statement said the estate was scheduled to be inaugurated on Tuesday, 18 August, by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu.
Amosun’s media office, however, maintained that the estate had already been conceived, acquired, master-planned, funded, substantially developed and inaugurated before the current administration took office.
It called for clarity on the status of existing allottees and the remaining land within the wider estate.
“Until these questions are answered fully, factually and transparently, the claim that Governor Dapo Abiodun ‘rescued’ the President Muhammadu Buhari Estate will remain less a faithful account of history than a political narrative deliberately constructed upon a false premise,” the statement said.
