By Omoniyi Salaudeen
Agege Local Government Chairman, Hon. Ganiyu Egunjobi has continued to trade words with a former Ogun State deputy Speaker, Hon Edwards Ayo-Odugbesan, over the demolition of a building located at 47, Old Ogba Road, beside MKO Abiola market, Agege, Lagos State.
While Ayo-Odugbesan claimed that he had obtained property documents in 1997 from the then Lagos State governor, Egunjobi dismissed the documents as fraudulent survey plans, insisting that the local government legally owns the said property.
Egunjobi maintained that ‘’under transparent circumstances, devoid of deception, the couple would not have been granted governor’s consent for the land since the same Lagos State government had long awarded same to the council on a land that covers the portion in dispute based on our Survey plan.”
The council boss said the property was among others that encroached on the Local Government land, declaring that he would go through all legal process to get the property back for the people of the council area.
In a statement made available to Sunday Sun, Egunjobi urged the police to step into the matter to unravel how the former deputy Speaker got a fraudulent Certificate of Occupancy and survey plan.
‘If their claim is true, it means the process they used to obtain it is fraudulent and must be investigated by the police.” he noted.
It statement reads in part: “In recent days, the media has been awash with reports that Agege Local Government seized and demolished a so-called property of a former Deputy Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Edwards Ayo-Odugbesan and his wife.
“The said property at 47, Old Ogba Road beside MKO Abiola Market, Agege, used to house Edwards Private School, a private entity belonging to Mr and Mrs Ayo-Odugbesan who are both lawyers.
“The fact of the matter is that the said property is within the land of the council at the former Abiola Market which the council equally demolished. Inferably the portion the property in question occupied belongs to the council.
“This is evidenced by our survey plan and the Certificate of Occupancy issued to us by Lagos State government.
“It’s curious that Mr and Mrs Ayo-Odugbesan claim to possess a governor’s consent for that same land.
“If their claim is true, it means the process they used to obtain it is fraudulent and must be investigated by the police.
“This becomes necessary considering that under transparent circumstances, devoid of deception the couple would not have been granted governor’s consent for the land since the same Lagos state government long awarded same to the council on a land that covers the portion in dispute based on our Survey plan,” Egunjobi added.