A fresh political storm is brewing in Ogun State as Governor Dapo Abiodun and the camp of former governor and Senator representing Ogun East, Gbenga Daniel, trade accusations over the state government’s planned demolition of Daniel’s properties in Sagamu.
The dispute began after officials of the Ogun State Planning and Development Permit Authority, last Friday, served contravention and quit notices on Daniel’s Asoludero Court and Conference Hotels in GRA Sagamu.
The notices, which gave three days to remove alleged violations or face demolition, have been described by Daniel’s media aide, Steve Oliyide, as hasty, contradictory and politically motivated.
Speaking to journalists on Monday at the affected premises, Oliyide accused Governor Abiodun of selective enforcement of building regulations, alleging that the governor’s own residence in Iperu fails to meet standard setback requirements yet has not been targeted.
“Governor Dapo Abiodun lacks the moral right to serve us or anyone else with contravention and quit notices when his own residence is in breach. His house should have been the first to receive such a notice,” Oliyide said.
He argued that the properties in question, built in 2004, have not undergone any new construction to warrant claims of contravention, adding that the simultaneous issuance of a contravention and quit notice violates the state’s 2022 Physical Planning, Urban Development, Regeneration and Building Production Management Law.
Oliyide challenged the government to produce copies of the approved building plans for the facilities, which he claimed are in the state’s custody, and warned that the matter could set a dangerous precedent if pursued.
While the state government has yet to directly respond to the allegations, it was learnt that Abiodun’s residence in Iperu sits close to a major road, though it could not be independently confirmed whether it breaches any approved building plans.
The latest development adds to a growing political tension between the two camps, reviving memories of past property disputes, including the controversial sealing of a property linked to the governor’s wife in Ijebu-Ode in 2022.