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Alleged Demolition: Dapo Abiodun, Gbenga Daniel Trade Words

Published

2 years ago

September 11, 2023

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.

“Our clients, as law-abiding citizens of Ogun state, will continue to seek redress in the courts. Even when our clients have suffered unimaginable and huge losses as a result of this illegal demolition, we will not relent in pursuing justice in the courts.”

It’s an illegal structure —Ogun govt

Reacting to the development, the State government in a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olayiwola Abiodun said the structure violated the building codes of the state with numerous defects.

Abiodun said several efforts made by the government to halt further development on the site were ignored by the developers.

According to the statement, DATKEM Enterprises Limited applied to an office building, located along Ibadan Road, Ijebu Ode in 2009 with registration number CB/05/299/2009.

The statement reads: “The proposal was for five floors with an airspace of 3 metres at the right, 5 metres at the left, 5 metres at the rear and a setback of 32.5516 metres to the middle of Ijebu Ode/Ibadan road, Ijebu-Ode.

“The Zonal Town Planning Office observed during routine monitoring that the construction on site did not conform to the plan granted as there was a deviation from the airspaces and setback.

“In addition, the building had been modified and enlarged with an additional storey building at the back, thereby, becoming over-density.

“Given the above, the following actions were taken: “Contravention notice with Serial No. 0106983 was served on 24th May 2022. Stop Work Order with Serial No. 000623 was served on 24th May 2022.

“Another Stop Work Order with Serial No. 001065 was served on 22nd July 2022 when the first notice was ignored.

“Demolition Notice with Serial No. 0007549 was served on 11th October 2022. Notice to seal with Serial No. 000815 was served on 4th October 2022.

“This prompted the re-sealing of the site on August 1, 2023. However, the sealing did not stop the developer from further construction as work continued on the site.

“However, the developer wrote an appeal for unsealing, which was considered to evacuate the belongings on the premises. “Thereafter, a quit notice with Serial No. 0030750 was served on 31st August, 2023.

“Given the above, since the developer had remained recalcitrant, the Zonal Town Planning Office’s recommendation for the demolition of the office building was upheld.”
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Related Topics:Dapo Abiodun Gbenga Daniel

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JUST IN: Ooni Visits Olubadan-designate Ladoja In Ibadan

Published

15 hours ago

September 21, 2025

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The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Sunday, paid a visit to the Olubadan designate, Rashidi Ladoja, at his Bodija private residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The PUNCH reports that Oba Ladoja will be installed as the 44th Olubadan on Friday, September 26, 2025, following the demise of the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, who joined his ancestors on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the age of 90 years.

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JUST IN: FG Revokes 1,263 Mineral Licenses Over Unpaid Fees

Published

16 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has announced a fresh revocation of not less than 1,263 mineral licenses.

These licenses, which will now be deleted from the Electronic Mining Cadastral System portal of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.

The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave the revocation announcement in a statement issued by his special assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Sunday in Abuja.

The minister explained that the directive was issued due to the companies’ failure to comply with the requirement of paying their annual service fees.

The latest revocation brings the total mineral titles revoked under the current administration to 3, 794 including,619 mineral titles revoked for defaulting in paying annual service fees and 912 for dormancy last year.

By opening up the areas formerly covered by these licenses, the revocation is expected to spur fresh applications by investors looking for fresh opportunities.

The statement read, “Not less than 1,263 mineral licenses will be deleted from the portal of the Electronic Mining Cadastral system of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, following their revocation by the Federal Government.

“These include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.”

Approving the revocation following the recommendation of the MCO, the Minister said applying the law to keep speculators and unserious investors away from the mining sector would make way for diligent investors and grow the sector.

“The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder, while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites, is over.

“The annual service fee is the minimum evidence that you are interested in mining. You don’t have to wait for us to revoke the license because the law allows you to return the license if you change your mind,” the minister said.

He warned that the revocation does not mean the Federal Government has pardoned the annual service debt owed by licensees, adding that the list will be forwarded to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission to ensure that debtors pay or face the wrath of the law.

“This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities.”

In the recommendation to the minister, the Director-General of the MCO, Simon Nkom, disclosed that there were 1,957 initial defaulters when the MCO published the intention to revoke licences in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025.

He informed the minister that the gazette was distributed to MCO offices nationwide to sensitise licencees and encourage them to comply within 30 days in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 and relevant regulations.

He observed that the delay in the final recommendation was due to complaints of several licensees who claimed to have paid to the Federal Government through Remita and had to be reconciled.

Earlier this month, the DG MCO had hinted that more mining licences would be revoked as part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudsters.

According to Nkom, the clean-up exercise, which covers expired, speculative, and inactive titles, is necessary to make room for genuine investors and ensure compliance with the law.

This is part of ongoing efforts at sanitising the sector since the inception of the Tinubu administration, and the salutary effects of the reforms are massive and manifest despite the attempts to push back by defaulters and their agents.