‘You’re A Disgrace’- Amosun Reacts To Utomi’s Allege Contract Violation

Ibikunle Amosun, a former Governor of Ogun state has described the allegation of contract breach against him by Prof. Pat Utomi as false.

Recall that Utomi, a former presidential candidate had in the wake of the controversy trailing the seizure of Nigeria’s presidential jets in France, over an alleged breach of contract by the Ogun state government with a Chinese company, accused the former governor’s administration of breaching a contract deal with him.

According to Utomi, the state government unjustly terminated a contract it had with him same way it did to the Chinese firm which has now sued the federal government, leading to the seizure of three presidential jets on the order of a court in Paris, France last week.

Reacting Amosun said he tried to assist Utomi even though the said contract was signed under his predecessor, Gbenga Daniel, adding that Utomi was only trying to capitalise on their relationship to hoodwink the state.

Amosun said Utomi was affected by the ‘entitlement mentality’ that both of them  had a relationship, saying he refused to be swayed by Utomi’s blackmail.

The former governors’ rebuttal was contained in a statement he issued on Sunday.

Below full text of the statement:

“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,” he said in a statement he issued on Sunday.

“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 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.

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