The Ogun State Government has served a quit and demolition notice for the private residence and hotels of a former governor of the state, Senator Gbenga Daniel.
Daniel is represents Ogun East district in the Senate.
Daily Trust reports that the notice triggers fresh crisis between Governor Dapo Abiodun and Daniel, who have squared up in a bitter political rivalry that began in the buildup to the 2023 election.
The development is also coming barely two years after the government pulled down the property of Daniel’s wife in Ijebu-Ode.
The N1 billion worth DATKEM Plaza in Ijebu Ode, belonging to a former First Lady of the state, Olufunke Daniel, was demolished after a notice by the government in September 2023.
On Friday, officials of the state government served a Notice of Contravention, Quit Notice, and threats of demolition on Daniel’s residence and hotel.
The document cited lack of a planning permit and inadequate building setbacks of the affected properties.
The properties affected include Asoludero Court, Daniel’s private residence in Sagamu, Conference Hotel Limited, Sagamu, and its adjoining annex, all reportedly marked for demolition within three days if the alleged violations are not rectified.
The state government, relying on the provisions of the state Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law No. 61 of 2022, stated that the buildings are in contravention of development regulations and could be pulled down if the owners fail to comply within the stipulated period.
In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Steve Oliyide, Daniel condemned the action, describing it as a politically motivated vendetta orchestrated by Governor Abiodun.
‘We strongly condemn this latest act of political persecution by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
‘This is a clear demonstration of the governor’s malicious and vindictive abuse of power, hiding behind a newly enacted law retroactively to target a political opponent’, the statement read.
Oliyide further described the move as ‘ludicrous’, citing that the buildings in question, Asoludero Court (built in 2004), Conference Hotel (2013), and the annex (2015) predating the 2022 planning law the government is relying on for the demolition threat.
He also criticised the procedural handling of the notices, stating that the issuance of contravention and quit notices simultaneously with an immediate demolition threat is ‘not only illegal but a thuggish tactic designed to intimidate and inflict damage’.
Oliyide, however, called on security agencies, human rights organizations, and legal institutions to intervene and prevent the government’s move to pull the properties down.
But the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr. Kayode Akinmade said the government did not engage in any untoward move against Daniel in anyway.
He described the notice as a ‘statutory and due process requirement’ in the ongoing development audit exercise currently being carried out simultaneously both in Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu GRAs.
‘Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s building happens to be within the Sagamu GRA and among those that were served notices as required under the Town Planning Law and Regulation of Ogun State. Many other structures were also similarly served. The exercise is a continuous one until the objective of government for the exercise is achieved. This process is not new. It had been in existence and operated even during his tenure as Governor of the State.
‘The GRA is a government designed and allocated estate and it is subject to regulatory and oversight functions of government in perpetuity.
‘All Otunba Gbenga Daniel needs to do, like every other person’s in similar situation that have been served with such notices in that neighbourhood, is to present his planning permit and land title to the relevant government Agency office for verification within the time specified in the notices rather than resorting to cheap blackmail. There are no exemptions under the law except as permitted by that Law’, Akinmade said.
He asked Daniel to submit himself to law, saying no one is bigger than the state.
‘Nobody is bigger than the State. Senator Gbenga Daniel is distinguished no doubt, but he is not bigger than Ogun State.
‘He should submit himself unreservedly to the same laws he once swore twice to uphold. He should refrain from elevating every issue of his contact with government institutions to a personal vendetta by Governor Abiodun, who obviously holds him in high esteem’, he said.
