Ogun State Government has said that it remained transparent and compassionate in handling its housing scheme embarked upon by Governor Dapo Abiodun – led administration and blamed fifth columnists for the alleged lack of allocations to subscribers after payment.
He added that individuals behind the subscribers’ allegations of no allocation were bad eggs in civil regalia who had tried unsuccessfully in the past to manipulate the laudable initiative, especially the ongoing Ogun State GRA Regeneration Schemes, especially that of Ibara Abeokuta.
Hours earlier, The Daily Crucible had reported that over 200 qualified applicants seeking to own houses in a state government housing scheme named Prince Court Estate had their hope dashed as they could not access the scheme after payment.
The yellow roof housing project is located at the Kobape junction of Abeokuta – Kobape – Siun corridor of Abeokuta – Sagamu expressway, Ogun State .
Groaning from the alleged deprivation of shelter nearing two years after subscription with payment, the affected subscribers accused the Ogun State Government led by Prince Dapo Abiodun of receiving the payment without allocating any house to them since 2022.
The representative of the group, Adeyemi Aremu in Abeokuta, who recalled that that the housing scheme was sold to them by the Ogun State ministry of Housing, said the applicants of the third phase of the scheme sought to become owners of 2 bedroom bungalows in the estate, and have paid but without allocation to any of the properties.
He said, the forms for the allocations were purchased in 2022 for five thousand naira (₦5,000) and each house costs five million five hundred thousand naira only (₦5,500,000) with a rebate for retired civil servants who were asked to pay four million nine hundred and fifty thousand naira only (₦4,950,000).
Aremu explained that some paid outrightly or on two instalments while others made their payment through the Gateway Mortgage Bank, owned by Ogun State government.
Aremu who also showed various receipts to prove his case said, names of over 200 qualified applicants were approved and pasted and since then, no allocation had been made by the State government.
Disillusioned Aremu said, the need to cry out was necessitated by the fact that the Dapo Abiodun led government has not fulfilled it’s part of the transaction despite applicants paying for shelter.
He said the frustrated subscribers are equally palpably worried over rumours making the rounds rife in Abeokuta, the state capital and beyond that Governor Dapo Abiodun planned to increase the price of the shelter or give the available 100 uncompleted semi-detached 2 bedroom bungalow carcass to civil servants who were evicted from the Ibara government quarters at the expense of those who had fully paid to the ministry of Housing.
Rattled by the report, the state government on Thursday night through a statement by the Commissioner for Housing, Jàgunmolu Jamiu Omoniyi, reacted to the subscribers’ allegations.
It said the delay in the allocation of the property to various applicants was caused by the present galloping inflation in the country, which subsequently necessitated little variations in the price of the property.
It added that the market value of the property has astronomically gone up as high as N20m as against the N5.5m paid by the applicants, noting that government had immediately activated stakeholders’ meetings to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
The statement reads in part: “In actual fact, those who are behind this fake news are individuals who had tried unsuccessfully in the past to undermine and manipulate the ongoing Ibara Housing Estate Regeneration Scheme for selfish considerations.
“They, therefore, resorted to propaganda and cheap blackmail to paint the government and its laudable projects black in the eyes of the people, not knowing that the good people of Ogun State are too sophisticated to fall for these machinations.
“The truth of the matter is that the delay in the process of allocation to applicants was caused by the sudden need for variations in the cost of the property as a result of galloping inflation as witnessed in the last year, as the cost value of the houses have gone up as against the N5.5m initially paid by the applicants, with such houses commanding up to N20m in open market.
“Consequently, the Government plans to engage all the applicants through various stakeholders’ meetings, as there will be an adjustment in the price of the property.
“To this end, those who are willing and able to meet up with the little adjustment will immediately get their allocations attended to and delivery structured within record time at the conclusion of the stakeholders’ meetings while those who cannot afford the adjustment will be free to request for instant refund of their deposits plus CBN’s prescribed interest rate.
“We want to reiterate that unlike before, the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun remains committed to its avowed pledge from inception, which is to be transparent, compassionate, and considerate in all its dealings without exception.”
