FORMER governor of Ogun State, Senator Gbenga Daniel and the Ogun State government, yesterday, disagreed over the demolition of a plaza belonging to the former governor’s wife.
While Senator Daniel described the demolition of his wife’s property in Ijebu Ode as an act of executive recklessness and lawlessness, the state government said the structure contravened the state’s physical planning laws.
Agents of the Ogun state government, on Sunday, demolished the DATKEM plaza in Ijebu Ode belonging to a former first lady of the state, Olufunke Daniel.
Daniel, in a statement by his lawyer, Mr Adeyinka Kotote, SAN, of PAGE Law office, insisted that the state government ignored court papers served on its agents on September 7, asking them to stop all actions on the building.
The statement reads:
“This matter began when the Ogun State Planning and Development Authority sealed the building on August 1 without any prior notice.
“Interestingly, a quit notice was only served on August 31, by the same Planning and Development Authority asking the owner to vacate the premises within three days.
“DATKEM applied for unsealing and regularisation of the building on August 2 and paid the mandatory fee of N500,000 to the Ogun state government. We have evidence of this payment.
“However, we were shocked and astonished that the Ogun state government ignored the ongoing legal process and went ahead to demolish the complex in the early hours of Sunday. We want to believe the State Attorney General’s advice was ignored on this matter.