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Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has told the people of the state to blame the relocation of the newly-commissioned Dangote Refinery to Lagos on his predecessor, Ibikunle Amosun.
The governor said the Chairman, and CEO of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote had wanted to site his $19bn oil refinery in the Olokola Free Trade Zone, in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state, but the billionaire businessman was frustrated out of the state.
Abiodun who was the Chairman, Olokola Free Trade Zone, under Amosun’s administration made this known on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin.
In the statement, the governor said Amosun should be blamed for the relocation of the mega refinery from Ogun to Lagos.
Somorin alleged that Amosun frustrated the effort of the committee headed by Abiodun to retain the project in the state because he had personal issues with the promoters of the project in Ogun.
The statement reads in part, “Governor Abiodun, as the chairman of the committee and a big player in the oil and gas industry himself, did everything possible to make sure the project saw the light of the day.
“The then governor, perhaps, having a personal axe to grind with the promoter of the refinery project, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, frustrated all the efforts of Governor Abiodun and his committee.
“The immediate Chairman, Board of Directors of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Mrs Ronke Sokefun, who was then a commissioner, served as the secretary of the committee, which engaged Dangote on the mega project.
The statement added that the people of the state are pained by the investment loss because Ogun had been marked as the most suitable natural location for the refinery project.
Abiodun absolved himself of blame after a former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, Segun Sowunmi, accused him on the loss of the $19bn Dangote refinery to Lagos.