Without prejudice, by any sound interpretation of Nigerian law, the Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law No. 61 of 2022 cannot retroactively apply to a building completed in 2004. The principle of non-retroactivity in law is clear: a new statute cannot be used to penalise acts or developments lawfully carried out under previous regulations unless the law explicitly states otherwise, writes Seunmanuel Faleye.
Asoludero Court, an architectural masterpiece built by Otunba Gbenga Daniel in 2004, was constructed almost two decades before the 2022 law came into existence. As a trained engineer, a former governor, and a man known for adherence to building regulations, Gbenga Daniel would not have embarked on such a project without obtaining proper approvals. Those approvals, issued under the law in force at the time, are reportedly intact and verifiable in the Ogun State Government’s own records.
Notices Served in One Sweep: A Procedural Ambush
The Ogun State Planning and Development Permit Authority, in what resembles administrative aggression, served a contravention notice, a notice to quit, and a threat of demolition within three days, all initiated the same day.
This is not how town planning enforcement works. Where there is doubt about approvals or documentation, the law prescribes that the appropriate first step is a Demand Notice, essentially a request for the property owner to present documents for verification. Only after establishing a genuine violation should a contravention notice be issued, followed by a window for compliance or rectification.
By skipping straight to demolition threats, the government has signalled that it is not interested in due process. The speed and severity of the action betray a predetermined, politically motivated plan rather than an impartial enforcement of urban development laws.
A Pattern of Gestapo-Style Operations
This is not an isolated case. The midnight demolition of DATKEM Plaza in Ijebu-Ode in 2023, carried out in the early hours of a Sunday when courts and offices were closed, remains fresh in public memory. That operation, targeting a property linked to Daniel’s wife, bore all the hallmarks of political intimidation rather than administrative necessity.
The Asoludero move fits the same mould: selective enforcement, compressed timelines, and a visible disregard for fair hearing.
Selective Targeting and Unequal Enforcement
The claim that this is part of a general property audit collapses under scrutiny. Asoludero Court is located in a Government Residential Area (GRA), one of the most tightly regulated zones in Ogun State, where building approvals are closely monitored. Yet, Governor Dapo Abiodun’s own Iperu-Remo residence reportedly violates setback requirements by sitting dangerously close to a Trunk A road, without attracting any contravention or demolition notice.
The inconsistency is glaring: if setback violations are truly the issue, enforcement should be even-handed, starting from the governor’s own doorstep.
Asoludero Court is more than a private home—it is a public-spirited complex that has contributed to Ogun State’s cultural, educational, and philanthropic life for two decades. Designed by celebrated architect Arc Kayode Anibaba (FIA), it consists of the Daniel Family Residence, completed in 2004 long before the 2022 law, a library and mini museum containing thousands of books, journals, and historical records on Ogun State and Nigeria, the Gateway Front Foundation Offices (headquarters of the not-for-profit established in 2001), and a Leadership Training Academy with a 300-seat Asoludero Hall for lectures, conferences, and public functions.
To destroy such an institution is to erase part of the state’s intellectual and social heritage.
Investment in Ogun, Now Punished
Otunba Gbenga Daniel could have built his legacy projects in any state or country, yet he chose Ogun to spur development. From hotels to housing estates, his investments have created jobs, improved infrastructure, and attracted other private sector projects. Ironically, some of Governor Abiodun’s closest allies live in prototype brick houses Daniel himself commissioned and sold.
For the same government to now weaponise planning laws, especially a law enacted 18 years after Asoludero was built, sends a chilling message to investors: in Ogun State, your property rights depend on your political alignment.
The Ogun State Government’s handling of Asoludero Court violates both the spirit and letter of urban planning law. By bypassing a Demand Notice, compressing enforcement into a politically charged three-day window, and applying a 2022 law to a 2004 building, Governor Abiodun’s administration has crossed from governance into persecution.
If unchecked, this style of selective and arbitrary enforcement will not only damage the state’s legal credibility but will also discourage the very private investments Ogun needs to grow.
Seunmanuel Faleye is a brand and communications strategist. He is a covert writer and an overt creative head. He publishes Apple’s Bite International Magazine.
