Former Ogun governor, Gbenga Daniel has described the demolition of his wife’s property by the Ogun State Government as an act of Executive recklessness, lawlessness and irresponsibility.

Daniel stated this on Sunday in a release issued by his lawyer, Mr Adeyinka Kotote (SAN) of PAGE Law office and made available to newsmen in Abeokuta.

According to reports, Agents of the Ogun State Government in the early hours of Sunday, demolished DATKEM plaza in Ijebu Ode belonging to a former First Lady of the state, Olufunke Daniel.

The legal firm expressed shocked and miffed that the state government ignored court papers served on its agents on Thursday, September 7 asking them to stop all actions on the building.

“This matter began when the Ogun State Planning and Development Authority scaled the building on August 1, 2023 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 regularisation of the building on August 2, 2023 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 that 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,” he said.

He added that he believed Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun was not informed of the 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 release stated.

in a reaction, the Ogun government said that DATKEM Plaza, Ijebu-Ode was an Illegal structure which contravened Ogun Physical Planning laws.

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.

Abiodun explained that 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.

He recalled the various incidences of building disasters across the country, adding that the state government would not fold its arm and allow such occurrence.

According to Abiodun, what the government did was to partially pulling down the defective building, that the government is being proactive.

The Permanent Secretary 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 per cent of available land for construction as a buildable area. The building lacked stage certification, which is usually issued at every stage of construction.

” Owners were served the necessary notices, including abatement, contravention, stop work and demolition between May and October 2022, which were ignored.

” DATKEM Enterprises Limited submitted application for an office building, located along Ibadan Road, Ijebu Ode in 2009 with registration number CB/05/299/2009.

“The proposal was for five (5) floors with airspace of 3 metres at the right, 5metres at the left, 5 metres at the rear and a setback of 32.5516 metres to the middle of Ijebu Ode/Ibadan road, Ijebu-Ode.

“The Zonal Town Planning Office observed during routine monitoring that the construction on site did not conform with the plan granted as there was a deviation from the airspaces and setback.

“In addition, the building had been modified and enlarged with an additional storey building at the back thereby becoming over density.

“In view of the above, contravention notice with Serial No. 0106983 was served on 24th May 2022. Stop Work Order with Serial No. 000623 was served on May 24, 2022.

“Another Stop Work Order with Serial No. 001065 was served on July 22, 2022 when the first notice was ignored. Demolition Notice with Serial No. 0007549 was served on October 11, 2022,” he said.

The statement noted further that despite all these notices, the developer was recalcitrant and continued with the construction work.

“This prompted the re-sealing of the site on August 1, 2023. But the sealing did not stop the developer from further construction as work continued on the site.

“However, the developer wrote an appeal for unsealing, which was considered so as to evacuate the belongings in the premises. Thereafter, quit notice with Serial No. 0030750 was served on August 31, 2023.

“In view of the above, since the developer had remained recalcitrant, the Zonal Town Planning Office’s recommendation for the demolition of the office building was upheld,” he added.

Abiodun reiterated state government’s commitment to ensure the safety of its citizens, adding that any defective buildings in any part of the state would be demolished to safeguard the lives of the people.