An Ogun State High Court has stopped Governor Dapo Abiodun and the state government from demolishing the Sagamu GRA residence of former governor Gbenga Daniel, as well as his Conference Hotels Limited and its annex.
Justice O.S Oloyede granted the ex parte order on Tuesday after hearing an application from Daniel and his wife, Yeye Olufunke Daniel, through their lawyer, A. M. Kotoye, SAN. The order restrains the governor, the Attorney General of Ogun State, the Ogun State Planning and Development Permit Authority, and the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development from tampering with the properties until the court hears the main application.
The judge said, “Having read the affidavit in support and the affidavit of urgency, I am satisfied that this court needed to take immediate steps to intervene in this case. Consequently, I hereby issue an ex parte interim order of this honourable court restraining the defendants/respondents and their agents, allies, proxies, assigns, cronies, servants, etc… from demolishing or in any way or manner tampering with the property known as Asoludero Court… pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice herein filed.”
Justice Oloyede also issued an order preventing the state from trespassing or disturbing Daniel’s possession of the property until the hearing. The matter has been fixed for August 19, 2025.
On Saturday, Daniel had accused the governor of ordering the demolition of his Sagamu residence and hotels, claiming the order was conveyed through notices of contravention, quit, and threat of demolition pasted on the buildings on August 8.
“The allegation is laughable and deeply rooted in thuggish and political vindictiveness at its highest shameful level,” Daniel’s media aide, Oliyide, said in a statement.
Reacting, the Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning, Tunji Odunlami, said the notices were part of a routine government audit of land in GRAs under its urban renewal plan.
“What everyone served the contravention notice in the GRA ought to do, including Senator Daniel, is to come forward with their necessary documents for verification,” Odunlami told journalists, adding that the audit would also take place in other GRAs across the state.
