The Ogun State Government and the wife of the State’s former governor Otunba Gbenga Daniel, have clashed over the demolition of a five-story building, DATKEM Plaza, owned by Mrs. Olufunke Daniel.
The State Government demolished DATKEM Plaza, located in Ijebu Ode area of the State, on Sunday after describing the building as an illegal structure without an approved plan.
The State Government, 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, adding that several efforts it made to halt further development on site were ignored by the developers.
The permanent secretary 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.
According to him, what the government did in partially pulling down the defective building was to be proactive. He also challenged the owners of the structure to produce evidence of government approval in their possession.
He said that for a commercial building of that status, there must be parking space to accommodate vehicular traffic within and outside the facility for workers and visitors. The provision of the law is for 45 to 50 percent of available land for construction as a buildable area.
The permanent secretary added that the building lacked stage certification, which is usually issued at every stage of construction and the owners were served the necessary notices, including abatement, contravention, stop work and demolition between May and October 2022, which were ignored.
Meanwhile, the former First Lady, through her lawyer, Adeyinka Kotoye, SAN, slammed Governor Dapo Abiodun over what she described as an ‘illegality,’ saying she suffered “unimaginable and huge losses” due to the demolition.
“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,” her lawyer maintained.
The lawyer added that “this matter began when the Ogun State Planning and Development Authority sealed 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.”
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