Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and his predecessor, Ibikunle Amosun, seem to enjoy playing cat-and-mouse all the time and there appears to be no end to their frosty relationship yet. Verbal altercations between the two have escalated once again. Both men recently traded words during the inauguration of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant at the Lekki Free Zone area in Lagos State.
A former governorship aspirant in Ogun State, Segun Sowunmi, had blamed the Ogun State Government for losing the investment to Lagos State.
The two politicians who witnessed the inauguration had to respond to Sowumi’s accusation by shifting the blame to each other.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, Abiodun made it known that Amosun was the one who frustrated his efforts at having the refinery sited in Ogun State. He explained that the refinery was initially planned to be located at the Olokola Free Trade Zone, in the Ogun Waterside Local Government Area.
Reacting through his media team, represented by Bola Adeyemi, Amosun stated that the Olokola Free Trade Zone was not solely owned by Ogun State. Describing Abiodun’s claim as untrue, he said that Ogun State was not in a position to unilaterally frustrate the project nor was it responsible for Dangote’s withdrawal as the state only owned 14.5 percent equity shares, while the Federal Government of Nigeria owned the majority share, which is 51 percent, the Ondo State Government had 14.5 per cent and strategic core investors had 20 per cent.
Amosun added that Dangote made his own business decisions according to the goals of his business strategy and risk assessment.
One would expect the two politicians, who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to find a common ground to settle their differences, but they don’t seem to be in a hurry to do so.
