This is an own-goal tussle which can devastate many things in Nigeria. Yet, we want justice to also do its job. For that, I call on the Kogi State government and Dangote Cement to modulate their postures: “A statement titled, “Illegal Shutdown of Dangote Cement, Obajana Plant”, signed by the Group Managing Director (GMD), Dangote Cement Plc, Michel Puchercos, said that the company has the full ownership of the Obajana plant”.

If you check 2,000 years of economic history, you will notice that property rights are the foundation of commerce. Where that is not possible, nations fade or struggle to advance.

I have no additional information to add anything to this topic but one thing I will say is this: the way Nigeria handles this will affect its mining, extractive, etc industry playbooks.  What is happening is consequential. Yes, if you can build a cement plant as a state in Kogi to make use of limestone, can Rivers State build a refinery to make use of its oil deposits? As this happens, many interpretations will emerge on the way Nigeria manages solid minerals (gold, silver, limestone, etc) and hydrocarbon (oil, gas) rights in the nation.

Can Mr. President call Aliko Dangote and Kogi State governor to see him today? We cannot use the agbero motorpark strategy here: the president must step in immediately. Yes, the court can come in but assets must be protected while that happens.

The factory is said to have begun back in 1992, during the regime of former head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, shortly after Kogi State was created. It took a turn in 2002, when the Kogi State Government and Dangote Cement Plc allegedly signed an agreement over the Obajana factory. A document purportedly signed by the Kogi State Government and the Dangote Group, which was seen by Tekedia, claims that both parties had agreed that besides collecting taxes from the company,  the state government will own 10% of the cement factory.

Concerned indigenes of the state said that the issue has lingered for so long because preceding governors had failed to take it up. For the current governor of the Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, it’s time to put the matter to rest once and for all time. People familiar with the matter said that the Kogi State House of Assembly had repeatedly summoned the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote himself, and had shunned a representative sent by the company – insisting that Dangote must appear in person to answer questions regarding his company’s failure to honor its agreement with the state.

The Obajana Factory Ownership Tussle Between Dangote Cement and Kogi State Govt.

As the #DangoteExploitingKogi hashtag climbed Twitter’s trends table on Monday, the conflict between Nigeria’s largest conglomerate, the Dangote Group and the Kogi State Government, has become widely known.

Though it is said to have endured for long, the saga took a wild turn last week — when the Kogi State Government, in ninja style, shut down the Obajana factory of Dangote Cement.

The conflict is based on allegations of tax evasion and ownership of the cement plant, which has dragged on for years. Last week, on the orders of the state government, armed vigilantes had invaded the factory, shot at workers and consequently shut it down.

According to Statements from both Dangote Cement and Kogi Statement Government, each party claims to be on the right. The Kogi State Government said that besides evading tax, Dangote Cement has illegally assumed 100% ownership of the factory, thereby denying the state its fair share.

In response to these allegations, the company had put forward a statement denying any wrongdoing. A statement titled, “Illegal Shutdown of Dangote Cement, Obajana Plant”, signed by the Group Managing Director (GMD), Dangote Cement Plc, Michel Puchercos, said that the company has the full ownership of the Obajana plant.

“The Management of Dangote Cement Plc. wishes to inform members of the public, especially its customers and other stakeholders of the recent invasion of its Obajana Cement Plant, Kogi State by armed vigilantes on the orders of the state government.

“The vigilantes, led by some officials of the State government were acting on a resolution of the Kogi State House of Assembly on controversial tax claims; claims that the state government had also contradicted when he said the shutdown was due to an alleged invalid acquisition of the company by Dangote Industries Limited,” the statement said.

The factory is said to have begun back in 1992, during the regime of former head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, shortly after Kogi State was created. It took a turn in 2002, when the Kogi State Government and Dangote Cement Plc allegedly signed an agreement over the Obajana factory. A document purportedly signed by the Kogi State Government and the Dangote Group, which was seen by Tekedia, claims that both parties had agreed that besides collecting taxes from the company,  the state government will own 10% of the cement factory.

Concerned indigenes of the state said that the issue has lingered for so long because preceding governors had failed to take it up. For the current governor of the Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, it’s time to put the matter to rest once and for all time. People familiar with the matter said that the Kogi State House of Assembly had repeatedly summoned the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote himself, and had shunned a representative sent by the company – insisting that Dangote must appear in person to answer questions regarding his company’s failure to honor its agreement with the state.

The People also said the Kogi State Government has resorted to shut down the factory because it interpreted Dangote’s refusal to appear before its House of Assembly as being taken for granted.

“We received several petitions from the general public over this particular subject matter. In the past five to six years, all efforts to sit with the proprietors of the Dangote Conglomerate failed,” Bello said, adding that the state is open for discussion whenever Dangote Cement is ready to come clean.

While Dangote Cement has maintained that it owns the Obajana factory 100%, the company said it has been up to date in its tax payment.

“The company pays over N1billion as PAYE to the government. We are not owing a kobo and the evidence is there,” a Dangote staff who did not want to be named told ThisDay.

With each party holding strong to its claim, the tussle is likely going to escalate further. Dangote Cement said it is going to seek legal redress: “We have taken steps to get the hoodlums apprehended by the law enforcement agencies, and we will ensure that full legal action is taken against them,” Puchercos said.

Kogi State Government has challenged Dangote Cement to provide documents to back up any of its claims. The state’s argument has been mainly hinged on the belief that there is no document to back up any deal that the company might have had with recent governments of the state.

Kogi State’s Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, said that the state’s government has all the relevant documents to prove that the purported acquisition of Obajana by Dangote was invalid.

“There is no evidence of consideration paid by Dangote Industries Limited to the Kogi State Government from the alleged transfer of Obajana Cement Company Plc and no dividend was paid to the state from the profits realized from the inception of Dangote Cement Company Plc to date.

“By the assignment of the three certificates of occupancy, the title in Obajana Cement Company Plc, still vests in Kogi State government as the sole owner,” he said.

Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, said that the acquisition of the Obajana Cement Company by Dangote was without the resolution of the House of Assembly, rendering every transaction it must have had null and void.

“It is clear that you cannot sell a state government property of any form without the resolution of the Kogi State House of Assembly. All the transfer process of the share capital to Dangote from Obajana by the previous administration was without any law backing it by the state House of Assembly,” Kolawole stated.

On Monday, a meeting between Dangote Cement and the Kogi State Government, which has Dangote in attendance, is said to be going on Aso Villa. The meeting which also has in attendance Gov.Bello, chief of staff to the president, Ibrahim Gambari and governor of Nasarawa State Abdullahi Sule, is said to be aimed at resolving the tussle.

However, analysts are worried that the development may dampen the interest of investors, particularly as the governor resorted in using vigilante, not the police, to enforce the shutdown of the cement factory.