AMOSUN CHALLENGES ABIODUN OVER BUHARI ESTATE CLAIMS

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By:Tajudeen Aminat

Former Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has rejected Governor Dapo Abiodun’s claim that his administration rescued the President Muhammadu Buhari Estate in Abeokuta from possible forfeiture.

Amosun described the claim as a misrepresentation of the project’s history, insisting that the estate had reached an advanced stage of development before he left office in 2019.

In a statement titled, “The Rescue of PMB Estate by Gov Dapo Abiodun: The Limit of Falsehood,” issued on Monday by his media office, Amosun said the claim was far from reality.

According to him, the estate’s infrastructure contract, valued at about N3.5bn, had been fully mobilised, with the project reportedly about 95 per cent complete by the end of his administration.

The former governor said the estate was developed on about 500 hectares of land acquired along the Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway, with 170 hectares earmarked for the master-planned first phase and about 50 hectares developed as the pilot scheme.

He explained that the project was conceived as a Three Arms residential zone for members of the executive, legislature and judiciary.

Amosun’s media office further stated that the Ogun State Judicial Complex, located opposite the estate, was designed to complement the judges’ quarters, while residential facilities within the estate were intended for members of the executive and legislature.

The former governor accused the Abiodun administration of repeatedly attempting to rewrite the history of projects executed under his tenure, saying he had previously chosen not to respond in the interest of peace in the state.

However, he said the latest comments concerning the PMB Estate required a response because they allegedly questioned his personal integrity.

The statement argued that successive administrations should be judged by their own achievements rather than continually focusing on the records of their predecessors.

According to Amosun’s media office, major infrastructure at the estate had already been completed and inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari during Ogun State’s 40th anniversary celebrations on February 3, 2016.

The infrastructure reportedly included 43 roads, street lighting, electricity networks, water distribution systems, drainage networks, a central sewage system, gas supply lines and fibre-optic cable ducts.

It added that the estate also had a master plan covering commercial areas, multi-residential districts, schools and other designated zones.

The former governor maintained that infrastructure within the pilot area had reached approximately 95 per cent completion by May 2019, describing the figure as verifiable through the formal handover documents of the supervising ministry.

He further said the contractor, ZCC, had been fully mobilised and that funds were available to complete the remaining work.

Amosun consequently questioned the circumstances surrounding the reported legal dispute with the contractor and alleged threat of forfeiture.

“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?” he asked.

He also cited the 2016 commissioning of the estate as evidence that substantial infrastructure was already in place before he left office.

Amosun recalled that Buhari had toured the estate, which had functioning roads and streetlights, and was hosted to a state banquet there during the commissioning.

The former governor’s media office also raised concerns over the fate of subscribers, particularly Nigerians in the diaspora, who it said had obtained certificates of occupancy and other relevant documents but were now experiencing difficulties accessing or developing their plots.

It urged the state government to provide details of the services and infrastructure it added to the estate and explain the current status of the entire 500-hectare development.

The statement also questioned the development of a 108-unit housing project being promoted by the Abiodun administration, alleging that the project occupies less than one hectare of the 50-hectare pilot area for which infrastructure had already been provided.

It further alleged that the housing project was built on land originally designated for a primary school.

Amosun’s media office also raised concerns over the location of the Access Bank Training School, alleging that land originally allocated for the project at the Abeokuta City Centre was now being used within an area designated for the executive arm of government.

It argued that such developments had undermined the original Three Arms Zone concept and the estate’s master plan.

Concluding, the former governor’s media office maintained that the PMB Estate had been conceived, acquired, master-planned, funded, substantially developed and inaugurated before the Abiodun administration came into office.

Meanwhile, Abiodun had earlier been credited by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, with rescuing the estate from possible forfeiture and transforming the stalled project into a 108-unit residential community.

The estate is scheduled for inauguration on Tuesday, August 18, by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu.