Why We Demolished Ex-Ogun First Lady Plaza – Govt

…Demolition An ‘Executive Recklessness’

Ogun state government has insisted that, the a five-storey plaza belonging to Olufunke Daniel, the wife of former governor, Gbenga Daniel contravened the state’s physical planning laws.

State government had commenced the demolition of the building, named Datkem plaza, located in Ijebu-Ode area of the state around 3am on Sunday.

Clips and pictures showing destruction of the building valued at over N1billion were circulated across social media platforms in the state, generating outrage and concerns among the residents and the political class

The government while confirming the demolition exercise in a statement signed 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 described the plaza as an “illegal structure without an approved plan.”

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

He said government officials requested the structural engineer in charge of the building to avail the state of the structural equilibrium of the building, a request that was ignored.

The statement recalled the various incidents of building disasters across the country, adding that the Ogun State Government will not fold its arm and allow such occurrence.

It noted that many of such disasters, such as fire outbreaks at Ikorodu, led to the loss of precious lives.

According to the permanent secretary, what the government did “in partially pulling down the defective building was to be proactive.”

But, reacting Daniel’s wife, Olufunke described the demolition as “executive recklessness, lawlessness and irresponsibility”.

The former first lady in a statement through her lawyer slammed the governor Dapo Abiodun over what she called ‘illegality,’ saying she suffered “unimaginable and huge losses” due to the demolition.

In a statement signed by Mr Adeyinka Kotoye, (SAN) of PAGE Law Office, the legal firm said the government ignored court papers “served on its agents on Thursday, September 7 asking them to stop all actions on the building.”

“I want to believe that the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, was not informed of this illegality. But if he was informed and still decided to use the instruments of the State against our clients, it is nothing but executive recklessness. But we will continue to fight for justice and ensure that our clients,” the firm said.

The firm also explained that “This matter began when the Ogun State Planning and Development Authority scaled 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.

“Meanwhile, Datkem applied for unsealing and regularization 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.”