Pat Utomi was blacklisted by Ogun assembly before I became governor — Amosun

Ibikunle Amosun, a former governor of Ogun, has responded to an allegation against him by Pat Utomi, a professor of political economy, concerning the revocation of his investment in the state.

In a post published on X on Sunday, Utomi recounted how Amosun allegedly revoked his Ogun state property and investment corporation (OPIC) agreement when he was the governor.

Amosun was the governor of Ogun from May 29, 2011, to May 29, 2019.

OPIC is a statutory corporation that focuses on the development of residential, commercial, and industrial real estate projects in the state and Nigeria at large.

Utomi said he and his South African partner lost around N200 million when the contract was terminated.

Utomi spoke in response to Amosun’s claim that Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd., a Chinese company, presented false information to the state government during his tenure as Ogun governor.

Recently, a Paris court ordered the seizure of three jets belonging to the Nigerian government over a dispute involving an arbitration award in favour of the Chinese firm.

The court ruled that the firm should use the three jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports “as security for its claim of EUR 74,459,221”.

In July 2016, the Amosun-led government terminated the contract of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. as the manager of the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ).

The contract termination has made Nigeria face a series of legal battles, including a $70 million arbitration award, the seizure of the presidential jets in France, and two residential properties in the United Kingdom (UK).

Amosun, in a statement on Sunday, said before he became governor, the Ogun assembly had blacklisted Utomi as “an enemy of state as a result of his predilection for shoddy business deals in the state”.

Amosun said he contacted Utomi shortly after assuming office to find out what happened to his business with the state government.

“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,” the statement reads.

“He, however, told me, amongst other things, that there was an ongoing construction in an Ogun state property that had become controversial.

“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.

“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.”

The former governor added that Utomi pressured him for a refund of N100 million for his investment.

“Nobody can talk me down in order to look good. I served Ogun State passionately with all my strengths, and I did with my shoulders high,” Amosun said.

“I stand by every decision I took, whether or not people like Pat Utomi were in agreement with me.

“Utomi knows his case did not even have any legs to stand on. He is not different from Zhongfu International Investment FXE.

“He knows he cannot lay claims to any lawful damage done to his investment. All he has tried to do is a ‘me too’, which is very disgraceful.”