₦airaland Forum

The Kogi Government on Thursday expressed determination to recover Obajana Cement Plant from Dangote and his accomplices.

The government’s resolution is contained in the report of the Specialised Technical Committee on the Evaluation of the Legality of the Alleged Acquisition of Obajana Cement Company by Dangote Cement Company.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the detailed report, which was submitted to Gov.Yahaya Bello of Kogi in September.

The report was presented to the public by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Folashade Ayoade, on Thursday in Lokoja.


Ayoade said, “Recovery of the state’s Obajana Cement Company Plc from Dangote Cement Company Limited became imperative at this point in time.”
The SSG revealed with documents that the purported transfer of Obajana to Dangote Industries Limited was “invalid, null and void”.


She disclosed that in the report, three Certificates of Occupancy for Obajana Cement Company Plc, which was solely owned by the Kogi State Government at the time, were used to obtain a loan of N63billion by Dangote.

According to her, the committee, in view of its findings, has, therefore, recommended that Kogi State should take steps to recover Obajana Cement Company from the Dangote Group.


The Committee, chaired by the SSG, also recommended that: “Kogi State Government should take steps to recover all accrued dividends from profits made over the years, including accrued interest on same.

“Kogi State Government should take steps to cancel the existing seven Certificates of Occupancy in the name of Dangote Cement Company.”
Stressing the aberration in the arrangement, the SSG said, “Agreement between Kogi State Government of Nigeria and Dangote Industries Limited, dated 30th July 2002.
“And, supplemental agreement dated 14th February 2003, as contained in Exhibit 71 of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry Report, purporting the transfer of Obajana Cement Company Plc to Dangote Industries Limited, are all invalid, null and void.

“There is no evidence of consideration paid by Dangote Industries Limited to Kogi State Government from the alleged transfer of Obajana Cement Company Plc and no dividend was paid to the state from the profits realised from the inception of Dangote Cement Company Plc to date…
“By the assignment of the three certificates of occupancy, the title in Obajana Cement Company Plc, still vests in Kogi State Government as the sole owner.

“The three documents were used to obtain a loan of sixty-three billion naira only (63,000,000,000.00) to finance the construction of the cement plant in Obajana.”
Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, specifically noted that the acquisition of the Obajana Cement Company by Dangote was without the resolution of the House of Assembly, which made the process null and void.

“It is clear that you cannot sell a state government property of any form without the resolution of the Kogi State House of Assembly.

“All the transfer process of the share capital to Dangote from Obajana by the previous administration was without any law backing it by the state House of Assembly,” Kolawole stated.

In his remarks, Gov. Yahaya Bello said that he had taken the bold step, in line with his mandate to safeguard the lives and livelihood of the people of Kogi State, including residents, and to ensure their wellbeing.

Bello said this was also coming on the heels of protests by the people of the state who felt they had been suppressed and marginalised by the Dangote Group who had come to rip them off.

The governor, however, said that the state was open to discussions once Dangote Company Plc is ready to come clean.

“We received several petitions from the general public over this particular subject matter.

In the past five to six years, all efforts to sit with the proprietors of the Dangote Conglomerate failed.

“We set up a committee to look into this and invited the Dangote company to discuss with them and tell them the imminent dangers they are exposing the people to, but it all fell on deaf ears.

“I am here to defend my people, and from all reports, it is clear that Obajana Cement Company does not belong to Dangote,” Bello declared

Nigerian youths have declared their total support for the All Progressive Congress's 2023 presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, just 48 hours after the appointment of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, as the APC campaign council's National Youth Coordinator.

Youths across the country have begun to pledge their support for Bello, claiming that his appointment demonstrates that the APC has the best interests of young people at heart.

Governor Bello had massive youth support across the country prior to the party's primary in May as an aspirant, owing to his youth-friendly government and policies.

Analysts and social media influencers who, because of Bello's appointment, have started declaring support for Tinubu, described Bello's appointment as a significant boost for the campaign, given the importance of youths in the 2023 elections and the impressive youth-targeted campaigns he ran prior to the primary election.

Tinubu announced Bello's appointment in a letter to the governor, which was made public on Sunday. In the appointment letter, the APC flagbearer emphasized that Bello deserved the appointment because of his impressive political achievements and exemplary leadership as governor of his state and party member.

The former Lagos State governor added that he was confident that the Kogi Governor would give his all in his new role so that the party could run an effective, message-driven campaign that would lead to victory in the 2023 Presidential election.

The Bello Ambassadors Network (BAN), a social political group, has stated that the appointment of their principal, governor Yahaya Bello, as the National Youth Coordinator of the All Progressive Congress campaign council is appropriate due to the governor's massive youth support.


Congratulating the governor on his appointment, BAN stated in a felicitation message made available to the press in Abuja on Sunday that the APC's presidential candidate for 2023, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, made the right choice by putting Bello in charge of youth mobilization.

In the statement signed by the group's National Coordinator, Anthony Edogbo, the group stated that while campaigning for Yahaya Bello prior to the primary election, it noticed that the governor was the candidate that Nigerian youths threw their weight behind, and that the group would reawaken its members across the country to join governor Bello to achieve his mandate in the new office.

Recall that BAN mobilized a large number of youths and women across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones in the run-up to the APC presidential primary election, who demonstrated their strong support for the Kogi Governor due to his youth- and women-friendly policies.

Tinubu's appointment was communicated to Bello in a letter addressed to him.

Tinubu emphasized in the letter that Bello, who ran in the party's presidential primaries in May 2022, deserved the appointment because of his impressive political achievements and exemplary leadership as governor of his state and party member.

The former governor of Lagos State, added that he was confident that the Kogi Governor would do his best in his new role so that the party could run an effective, message-driven campaign that would lead to victory in the 2023 Presidential election.

As the All Progressive Congress (APC) continues its internal wrangling ahead of the 2023 presidential election with its proposed national convention in a matter of days away, some party stakeholders have decided to speak on the power, ambition, and schemes behind the recent doctoring of the ruling party's leadership but on the ground of anonymity.

Recall that after President Muhammadu Buhari held a meeting with APC governors on 22nd of February, Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, summoned reporters and announced that the party had agreed that the northern zone would have the positions the southern zone held before, revealing that the party has settled for "a zoning formulah for all the six geo-political zones."

After the governor's address to the media and the consequent widespread zoning rumor, some APC chieftains came out to question the eligibility of El-rufai to speak for the party knowing that he was not at any point vested responsibility of the party's spokesman.

Again, speaking on Wednesday, March 9, when he appeared as a guest on Channels TV., El-Rufai reaffirmed that the APC presidential candidate for the 2023 election is expected to come from the southern region of the country while dismissing the speculations that he will be the running mate to the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, in the forthcoming 2023 presidential election.

From another angle, the Kaduna State governor hasn been named as the person, who pressured President Buhari to sign certain documents reportedly endorsing certain persons ahead of the APC convention billed for March 26th after successfully arguing the need to ensure the Fulani continue to have a hold on power via proxies, multiple sources told SaharaReporters [url]saharareporters.com/2022/03/05/how-kaduna-governor-el-rufai-‘tricked’-buhari-endorse-adamu-nnamani-others-key-apc[/url]

With the emerging realities, it is learnt that El-rufai seems to be behind the rancor in the APC as he pushes to become the next Vice President to a Southern presidency even though he has repeatedly denied. This is also in a selfish bid to keep the Fulanis in the corridors of power.

It is said that he has assumed the role of the spokesman for the party's Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) as he continues media tours in convincing the public to accept his one-sided information on the party's latest decisions ahead of its convention.

The party chieftains who spoke on the ground of anonymity revealed that APC would throw its presidency ticket open to every eligible member of the party as no zoning formula is currently recognized by the Constitution of the party. Multiple sources said that El-rufai should be ignored, noting that he is running after a greedy and selfish agenda that is bound to fail.