The Executive Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun has stated that the State lost the opportunity to have the Dangote Refinery because of the immediate former governor of the state, Ibikunle Amosun.
The $18.5 billion project was to be sited in Ogun State before it was moved to its present location in the neighbouring Lagos State.
Shortly after the inauguration of the project on Monday, some stakeholders in the state rued loss of the project to Lagos.
The governorship aspirant of PDP in the 2023 election, Segun Showunmi, blamed the loss on “bad politics.”
Showunmi in a statement he personally signed said “I cannot but wonder what explanation Ogun State has for not housing that project that sits pretty within our Ogun Development Master Plan with Olokola Free Trade Zone in Ogun Waterside!
“It is time to have a law that punishes economic sabotage occasioned by bad politics! No one should be allowed to set back a state on the altar of winning an election, which more than likely has queried integrity.
“No state can make a steady process if that nonsense is not punished to prevent a repeat.”
Reacting to the statement, Abiodun in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin on Tuesday, said he should not be blamed for the loss.
“Any true born Ogun indigene will sincerely be pained by the huge investment loss, especially when Ogun had been marked as the most suitable natural location for the mega project in Olokola Free Trade Zone, in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state,” the governor lamented.
While explaining his involvement, he said, as the chairman of the committee and a big player in the oil and gas industry himself, did everything possible to make sure the project saw the light of the day.
“The then governor (Ibikunle Amosun), perhaps, having a personal axe to grind with the promoter of the refinery project, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, frustrated all the efforts of (Governor Abiodun) and his committee.
“The immediate Chairman, Board of Directors of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Mrs Ronke Sokefun, who was then a commissioner, served as the secretary of the committee, which engaged Dangote on the mega project.
“Instead of showing enthusiasm towards hosting the project in the state, the former governor brazenly opposed and obstructed efforts of the Abiodun-led committee in ensuring that the OKFTZ came into fruition.”
