Amosun Claims “Pat Utomi is Still Sulking Because I Refused to Feed His Entitlement Mentality”

By Nnamdi Okosieme

° Says Ogun assembly had blacklisted prof as enemy of state before he came into office

° His N200m claim is not different from the case of Zhongfu of China

Former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, says the reason Professor Pat Utom is blaming him for the seizure of three Nigerian presidential aircraft by a Chinese company is because he refused to feed his entitlement mentality or honour indecent influence peddling, as governor of Ogun State.

Senator Amosun’s whose comments came via a post on X, was responding to an allegstion by Prof. Utomi alleged that he did not honour an agreement preceding his administration.

The former Ogun State Governor also disclosed that the Ogun State House of Assembly had already declared Prof. Utomi persona non grata and described him as an enemy of state as a result of his predilection for shoddy business deals in the state.

“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”, Senator Amosun said.

He said in response to his question, Prof. Utomi said in addition to other issues, that there was an ongoing construction in an Ogun State property that had become controversial. Senator Amosun said after hearing form Prof Utomi, he immediately raised a team for verification and to know what to do. He said reported that 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, and suggested that it be done elsewhere.

“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 demolition of an on-going project”, Senator Amosun said.

He added that in order that Prof. Utomi’s investment in the state did not go to waste, he 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”, the former Ogun State Governor added.

He said a few years later, Prof. Utomi complained to some people with the sole intent to malign him.

“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.

Senator Amosun said he served Ogun State d good. I served Ogun State passionately with all his strength and stands by every decidion he took as Governor 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”, Senator Amosun said.

The former governor said for Nigeria to become a better country, one law must be applied to every Nigerian, irrespective of your status, religion, or tribe, insisting that “if Nigerians truly want a great nation, they should hold their leaders accountable for every action. But, if Nigerians allow people to hoodwink them with misinformation, mischaracterisation, and dubious tales by moonlight, it would be unfortunate.”