It’s interesting to note that Amosun and Abiodun both went to the refinery’s opening on Monday.
The location of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos State has been the subject of blame-trading between Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun and his predecessor, Ibikunle Amosun.
Aliko Dangote, the wealthiest man in Africa, owns a refinery with a daily capacity of 650,000 barrels. President Muhammadu Buhari and four other African presidents opened the facility on Monday.
Segun Sowunmi, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), allegedly accused the Ogun State Government of failing to prevent the neighboring Lagos State from being awarded the right to host the massive Dangote Refinery.
It’s interesting to note that the governors of Ogun State from 2019–2019, Amosun and Abiodun, both attended the refinery’s official opening.
Despite being All Progressives Congress (APC) members, the two politicians run their campaigns from different camps in the state, with Amosun favoring a different candidate over Abiodun, who was re-elected in the March 2023 election.
a stock image of the Dangote Refinery
Dangote’s attempts to establish a refinery in Ogun were thwarted by Amosun.
The state should have benefited greatly from the enormous investment that was lost, according to a statement from Abiodun’s chief press secretary Kunle Somorin, especially since the massive project was originally intended to be located at the Olokola Free Trade Zone in the state’s Ogun Waterside Local Government Area.
In reality, everyone is aware that Segun Sowunmi is referring to Ibikunle Amosun, the outgoing governor, as the one who thwarted attempts to place the refinery in Ogun State.
We are all aware that the previous government, with the help of the Dangote Group and other influential players in the oil and gas industry, made commendable and concerted efforts to see that the Olokola deep sea port and other ancillary projects in the OKFTZ were realized.
Part of the statement said, “During the first term of the immediate past governor, the present governor, Dapo Abiodun, served as the Chairman of the Committee on the Olokola Free Trade Zone projects.”
Amosun: Dangote made business decisions.
Amosun, on the other hand, claimed that the Olokola Free Trade Zone project was not entirely owned by the Ogun State Government in a counter-statement issued by his media office and signed by Bola Adeyemi.
He said that after giving the Olokola Free Trade Zone some thought, Dangote made a commercial choice to locate the refinery in Lagos.
“It was a joint venture from the moment it was conceived in 2007. The majority (51%), Ondo State (14.5%), Ogun State (14.5%), and strategic core investors (20%) were held by the Federal Government of Nigeria. According to the facts provided to us when we entered office, Alhaji Aliko Dangote later purchased and acquired the 20% share of the core investors, part of the statement stated.
Ogun State was a tiny equity investor with no authority to make decisions on its own about the joint venture firm.
“It is very uncharitable for anybody to spread falsehoods that Ogun State was in a position to unilaterally thwart the project or was the cause of the bottleneck as a simple holder of 14.5% equity stake.
“With all due respect, it makes more sense to acknowledge that Alhaji Aliko Dangote made his own business choices in line with the objectives of his company strategy and risk assessment.
No amount of manufactured falsehoods, extortion, or planned deception will discredit these unmatched facts.
Therefore, it’s intriguing to learn that the current governor of Ogun State accuses me of derailing the Olokola project.
