The Labour Party (LP) has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, and former Governor Olusegun Osoba to urgently intervene over what it described as the alleged sale of government-owned housing estates and heritage assets by the Ogun State Government.
In a statement issued on Monday, the party’s National Vice Chairman (South West), Abayomi Arabambi, accused the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun of disposing of public housing assets built with taxpayers’ funds, warning that the development threatens the future of affordable housing in the state.
Arabambi specifically alleged that the Ibara Housing Estate, Housing Corporation buildings and other properties under the Ogun State Housing Corporation were being sold off under what he termed “opaque and anti-people arrangements.”
He described the alleged sale of the Ibara estate as “a direct assault on Ogun State’s collective heritage,” insisting that estates meant for civil servants and low-income residents were being transferred to private interests without transparency.
“The Ogun State Housing Corporation was established nearly 50 years ago to tackle housing deficits, not to be dismantled through reckless asset stripping,” Arabambi said.
“You cannot correct administrative failures by selling off the people’s inheritance. This government is trading the future of Ogun State for short-term gains.”
The party condemned what it called the absence of consultation with residents, labour unions, the House of Assembly and traditional institutions before the alleged transactions, adding that there had been no public disclosure of the processes or beneficiaries involved.
It urged the state government to halt the sale of public estates and instead prioritise road construction, rehabilitation of existing housing facilities and the strengthening of the Housing Corporation to enable it fulfil its mandate of providing affordable housing for ordinary residents.
Calling on elder statesmen, including Obasanjo, Soyinka and Osoba, as well as traditional rulers such as the Alake of Egbaland, the LP warned that continued silence would embolden what it described as the erosion of public property and heritage in Egba land.
The party demanded the immediate suspension of all housing asset sales and full disclosure of the transactions, citing Freedom of Information requests allegedly submitted to the government over two months ago but ignored.
Arabambi also called for an independent audit of the Ogun State Housing Corporation, disclosing that the party’s lawyer, Prof. Yemi Oke (SAN), had been briefed to initiate legal action against Governor Abiodun, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tokunbo Talabi, the Commissioner for Housing, Jagunmolu Akande Omoniyi, and the Ministry of Housing.
The LP warned that Ogun residents would resist any attempt to privatise public housing without due process, open competitive bidding and popular consent, stressing that “all questionable transactions must stop immediately.”
He concluded by urging respected elders and traditional rulers to prevail on the governor to halt what he described as “economic and political rascality” and protect the state’s heritage and public assets.
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