Utomi, Amosun
On the backdrop of the controversy trailing the Paris court order directing the seizure of Nigeria’s presidential planes, former Governor Ibikunle Amosun and Professor Pat Utomi have exchanged hot words over a botched investment deal.
The seizure of the planes followed moves by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company, to enforce an arbitral award of $74.5 million granted in its favour in 2021 against Ogun State.
Speaking in response to Amosun’s claim that the Chinese company presented false information during his tenure as Ogun governor, Utomi who took to his X account to express his views on Sunday, recounted how his OPIC agreement with the state was allegedly revoked by the former Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
The former governor however faulted Utomi’s claims.
According to Utomi “I was a victim” of Amosun’s “violation of contract terms.”
“So, it was Governor Amosun’s violation of contract terms signed by his predecessor that brought the shame of seizure of jets from the Presidential fleet. I hope he is happy with his achievement.
“The whole matter is Karma at work. The Chinese were not the only victims. One prominent Ogun indigene allegedly committed suicide with similar Amosun action. I too was a victim.
“I had leased OPIC land in Lagos in a BOT agreement under Governor Daniel. Amosun stopped all such on being sworn in. I called him. He said he did not see my name on the list.
“I went to Abeokuta and he called in Yewande Amusan who said mine was a straight forward deal they did not include. He asked that all be included but mine be quickly sorted.
“That began a rigmarole that went on for years. I made another trip to Abeokuta. He drove me back to Lagos at the wheels with my driver trailing along with the escorts and sirens.
“He had earlier asked that I make a request for a refund of what I paid even though my South African partners and I had invested 200m in addition to the lease amount at the time.
“With just the two of us in the car he advised me to make a claim for 100m and write for additional payments the day after I cash the cheque. It was surreal but if I got nothing more it would be better than being in court until we both retire. I took the case to APC leaders, Bola Tinubu and Baba Akande.
“No result, I took it to Dapo Abiodun when he took over. Nothing came of it. If this happened to Frieda I wondered what enemies were going through. I lost my weary SA partners who owned a successful regional chain across Southern Africa and Asia. I licked my wounds and slaved to pay off the loans.
“The Chinese had better leverage. They took it and all are shamed. My new book Power Policy Politics and Performance documents a similar case study in Enugu involving SA investors as the gubernatorial batons changed hands.”
Reacting swiftly, Senator Amosun said “Before I came into office, the Ogun State House of Assembly had passed a personal non grata on Utomi, and put its resolution in the state’s black book.
“So, I was curious when I became governor and called Utomi to ask what the issue was. This was entirely at my discretion and not because he reached out to me. But I reckoned that as one with some degree of name-recognition, that should not be, and I wanted to know what happened.
“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 N35 million or at most, N50 million 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 demolition of an on-going project.
“Just so that his investment in the state would not go to waste, I committed to making a refund of N100 million as against his claim of N200 million. He pressured me ceaselessly to pay him N200 million, but I did not yield.
“As part of his determination to sway me, he deployed his Centre for Value in Leadership, CVL, through the instrumentality of an Award. At first, it all looked curious that I’d just been in office for about two years, and here I was being given an award, so I rejected it.
“But he insisted that I honour his CVL Solution conference series with my presence, which I did, and I was given a plaque for participating. But I did not change my position on the refund of N100 million as against his N200 million claim.
“A few years later, he complained to some people with the sole intent to malign me. When I heard, I called to tell him off because his problem was purely one of entitlement mentality. He even boasted, asking me: ‘Do you know who I am?’ Imagine. But I ignored him because I immediately saw through his true colour. In my book, it’s one law for everyone, no matter who you are.
“I challenge everyone, including journalists, to let us meet at the construction site and see the N200 million investment he claimed to have made there. Let them also ask what benefit the project would have been to Ogun State.
“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. 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.”
