Your project in Ogun had questionable value, Amosun replies Utomi

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Former Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has rubbished the allegations of contract violation by Professor Pat Utomi, saying Utomi had been issued a personal non-grata by the state House of Assembly, which he overlooked on assumption of office.

Utomi had stated that Amosun’s administration breached a contract with him like a Chinese firm which sought a court order to seize three presidential jets in France.

However, Amosun on Sunday said Utomi’s construction project in an Ogun State property was controversial and of questionable value.

Amosun also explained that the professor’s project was hurriedly executed so as to present to his incoming administration, challenging Utomi to prove his acclaimed N200 million investment in the project.

Defending the decisions if his administration, Amosun insisted that he served Ogun State passionately and would not be swayed by Utomi’s claims.

The former governor’s statement read: “Before I came into office, the Ogun State House of Assembly had passed a personal non grata on Utomi and put its resolution in the state’s black book.

“So, I was curious when I became governor and called Utomi to ask what the issue was. This was entirely at my discretion and not because he reached out to me. But I reckoned that as one with some degree of name recognition, that should not be, and I wanted to know what happened.

“He, however, told me, amongst other things, that there was an ongoing construction in an Ogun State property that had become controversial.

“I immediately raised a team for verification and to know what to do. 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 N35 million or at most, N50 million 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.

“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.

“I challenge everyone, including journalists, to let us meet at the construction site and see the N200 million investment he claimed to have made there. Let them also ask what benefit the project would have been to Ogun State.

“Nobody can talk me down in order to look good. I served Ogun State passionately with all my strengths, and I did with my shoulders high. I stand by every decision I took, whether or not people like Pat Utomi were in agreement with me.

“Utomi knows his case did not even have any legs to stand on. He is not different from Zhongfu International Investment FXE. He knows he can not lay claims to any lawful damage done to his investment. All he has tried to do is a ‘me too’, which is very disgraceful.”

Professor Utomi raised the allegation against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding a Chinese firm’s claims of a deal violation by the Ogun government, leading to the seizure of presidential jets in France.