Ogun To Become Oil Producing State Soon – Governor Abiodun

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has disclosed that his administration is committed to making Ogun an oil producing state in the country.

Abiodun made this known while delivering a convocation lecture at the 2nd and 3rd convocation programmes of the Mountain Top University, with the topic, “Quest for excellence: The Nexus of faith, knowledge and resilience.”.

The governor said he was privileges to work as the chairman of the Olokola Free Trade Zone which sought to site a refinery in the state.

Abiodiun noted that the project was not just conceived with the aim of refining petroleum products only, but to take advantage of the mining lease that had been awarded around the corridor.

He said: “I worked as chairman of Olokola Free Trade Zone that was meant to have the Dangote Refinery sited in Ogun Waterside, however, discussion broke down between Dangote and the then administration which led to the loss of that project to Lagos State; a $16bn was lost to another state.

“That project was conceived with the aim of not just refining petroleum in Ogun, but also take advantage of the mining lease that had been awarded around that corridor that has even not begun to be exploited.”

Abiodun, however, said his administration was working towards ensuring that the state take advantage of its oil-rich deposit and becomes an oil producing state.

He expressed optimism that Ogun would become an oil producing state, saying “we are working assiduously on that, so, I accept this challenge, we will further strengthen our resolve to ensure that we bring Ogun State to oil producing status in the very near future.”

The governor affirmed that the state has very rich oil reserves in Tongeji Island, adding that “Ogun State is situated in the Dahomey Basin, which stands for the Niger Delta that goes all the way to Ghana.”

“Everyone of the states in that corridor are oil producing today, even Ondo and Lagos states”, Abiodun submitted