OPIC Land Dispute: Utomi, Amosun Bicker Over Contract Violation
A Professor of Political Economy, Pat Utomi, and the immediate past Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, have disagreed over a purported breach of contract on an Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation’s land.
While Utomi claimed that he was a victim of a violation of contractual agreements involving the former governor, Amosun refuted the claim, saying he (Utomi) was suffering from an “entitlement mentality,” according to The Niche.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Utomi, tweeting as #UtomiPat, said he lost a partnership with some of his South African business partners due to his failure to recover a land he leased in Lagos State.
He noted that while the land in question was leased under the administration of former governor Gbenga Daniel, the agreement stopped when Amosun assumed office in 2011.
Utomi’s allegations are coming amidst the ongoing dispute involving the Federal Government, the Ogun State Government and a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Limited in which a French court had ordered the seizure of three presidential Jets until the payment of $74.5m awarded to Zhongshan.
“The whole matter is Khama at work. The Chinese were not the only victims. One prominent Ogun indigene allegedly committed suicide with a similar Amosun action. I too was a victim.
“I had leased OPIC land in Lagos in a BOT agreement under Gov Daniel. Amosun stopped all such on being sworn in. I called him. He said he did not see my name on the list. I went to Abeokuta and he called in Yewande Amusan who said mine was a straightforward deal – they did not include it. He asked that all be included but mine be quickly sorted. That began a rigmarole that went on for years.
“I made another trip to Abeokuta. He drove me back to Lagos at the wheels with my driver trailing along with the escorts and sirens. He had earlier asked that I make a request for refund of what I paid even though my South African partners and I had invested 200m in addition to the lease amount at the time,” his tweets partly read.
Utomi recalled that he presented his case before President Bola Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Bisi Akande; and incumbent state governor, Dapo Abiodun.
Unfortunately, he got no positive result.
He added, “With just two of us in the car, he advised I make a claim for 100m and write for additional payments the day after I cash the cheque. It was surreal but if I got nothing more, it would be better than being in court until we both retire.
“I took the case to APC leader BAT and Baba Akande. No result. Took it to Dapo Abiodun when he took over. Nothing came of it. If this happened to me, I wondered what enemies were going through.”
The political economist lamented that he lost his South African business partners as he “paid off the loans.”
“I lost my weary SA partners who owned a successful regional chain across Southern Africa and Asia. I licked my wounds and Slaved to pay off the loans.
“The Chinese had better leverage. They took it and all are shamed. My new book Power Policy Politics and Performance documents a similar case study in Enugu involving SA investors as the gubernatorial batons changed hands. When shall we learn? Values shape human progress,” the tweets ended.
In a reaction to Utomi’s allegations, Amosun, on Sunday, according to The Niche, narrated that before he came into office on May 29, 2011, the Ogun State House of Assembly had blacklisted Utomi.
Amosun said, “Before I came into office, the Ogun State House of Assembly had passed a persona non grata on Utomi, and put its resolution in the state’s black book.
“So, I was curious when I became governor and called Utomi to ask what the issue was. This was entirely at my discretion and not because he reached out to me. But I reckoned that as one with some degree of name recognition, that should not be, and I wanted to know what happened.
“He, however, told me, amongst other things, that there was an ongoing construction in an Ogun State property that had become controversial.”
Amosun stated that he sent his team for an assessment of the land and that after the necessary evaluation, the team concluded that the land was valued at N50 million at most, which was against Utomi’s claim of N200m.
“I immediately raised a team for verification and to know what to do. The team I sent said the land was inappropriate because the said construction was being done in the car park of the Ogun property on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Road in Lagos State. My team then suggested somewhere else.
“But he didn’t want another place because, according to him, the place in question gave more visibility. After our in-house assessment, my team concluded he could not have spent more than N35m or at most, N50m on the construction as of then. At that point, I decided to visit myself.
“In addition, it was discovered that the so-called work done was hurriedly executed in the wake of the realisation that another political party had won the governorship election and would take over the reins of leadership in the state,” the ex-governor said,
Amosun recalled that he decided to give Utomi N100m to avoid the latter’s “investment in the state” going to waste,
“It was also obvious that what was being attempted was a move at ambushing the state government under my watch and presenting us with a Fait Accompli, a situation that would have generated a controversy about the demolition of an ongoing project.
“Just so that his investment in the state would not go to waste, I committed to making a refund of N100 million as against his claim of N200 million. He pressured me ceaselessly to pay him N200 million, but I did not yield,” he added.
Amosun noted that while Utomi tried to “sway” him by using “his Centre for Value in Leadership, CVL, through the instrumentality of an Award,” he rejected the offer.
He added, “At first, it all looked curious that I’d just been in office for about two years, and here I was being given an award, so I rejected it.
“But he insisted that I honour his CVL Solutions Conference Series with my presence, which I did, and I was given a plaque for participating. However, I did not change my position on the refund of N100m as against his N200m claim.
“A few years later, he complained to some people with the sole intent to malign me. When I heard, I called to tell him off because his problem was purely one of entitlement mentality. He even boasted, asking me: ‘Do you know who I am?’ Imagine! But I ignored him because I immediately saw through his true colour. In my book, it’s one law for everyone, no matter who you are.”
The ex-governor noted that Utomi “is not different from Zhongfu International Investment FXE. He knows he can not lay claims to any lawful damage done to his investment. All he has tried to do is a ‘me too’, which is very disgraceful.”
However, in separate statements, the duo of Amosun and Daniel had stated their readiness to assist the Federal Government in recovering the seized national assets.
The Chinese firm had gotten judgment from the French court, which led to seizure the jets unless they received the awarded $74.5 million.
