LAGOS SUED OVER $100M REPAYMENT CLAIMS BY DANGOTE REFINERY!

The Lagos State Government has been sued over a claim made by business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, regarding a $100m payment he made to the government for the refinery.

Dangote had, earlier, asserted that he paid $100 million to the government of Lagos state for the Dangote refinery deal to pull through.

The State has now been dragged to the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, in order for the court to confirm the authenticity of these claims.

The Applicants of this suit, De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum, demand that the Lagos State Government provides a detailed financial account of the said transaction.

They wonder why a transaction of this magnitude had no public statement issued.

This suit was brought under Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended; Sections 1,3, 4, 7, 20 and 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and Inherent jurisdiction of the Honourable Court in the matter.

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Attorney General of Lagos State, Accountant General of Lagos State, Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Lagos State and Lagos State Government, are the 1st-5th Respondents in the suit.

The Suit was registered by the court with no FHC/L/CS/1603/2024 at 1:20pm on Friday September 6, 2024.

The applicants are praying for an Order of Mandamus be issued against the respondents to compel them to release all necessary information required.

Lead counsel for the applicants, Barrister Yakubu Eleto Esq, while speaking on Friday, held that the siting of the Dangote Refinery in the Ibeju-Lekki area has negatively affected the livelihoods of the people of the area.

“Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), as sitting governor in 2015, using a public address said that they brought Dangote to Ibeju-Lekki in good faith to assist governance, to assist the Lagos State economy, that they gave him the land for free and that he didn’t pay anything for it,” Eleto held.

These claims by the Lagos State Government, Eleto noted, now contradicts claims made by Dangote, who admitted paying $100 million for the land on which he built his refinery.

“Out of the fact that they don’t have money, they pay a lot to give themselves energy and it is now sounded to their ears to hear that about $100 million was collected in exchange for their land and some individuals sit on that money. We want to know where that money is.

“By Tuesday, September 10, it is going to be assigned to a judge,” Eleto stated.