The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) yesterday condemned the invasion of Dangote Cement Plant by the Kogi State security outfit.
This is as the association urged the federal government to take urgent steps to amicably resolve the dispute between Dangote Cement Plc Plant, Obajana and the Kogi government over land ownership.
The president of MAN, Engr. Mansur Ahmed, stated this at a press conference to herald the Association’s 50th Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to hold on October 17-19, 2022.
The president of MAN, said the action by Kogi State is of great concern, saying that it is unimaginable that a State government would take such drastic action to shut down a plant that provides job opportunities and economic activities on a huge scale for the people of Kogi State.
“The action appears to be taken by government and it is alleged to be an effort for some alleged claim on some alleged payment of taxes that have not been made or recovered from the company,” Ahmed said.
He added that the move was totally illegitimate, pointing out that if the state government had any issue against any member of its association or corporate citizen, the appropriate thing to do is to take the member to court.
“You cannot use strong-arm tactics to shut them down or impose very severe restrictions on their operations simply to force them. This is illegal and I believe that what has happened will not happen in a normal operating environment,” the MAN boss said.
He said the association has taken up the matter with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in its bid to help address the anomaly in Kogi State.
“We have no reason not to pay taxes to the Kogi State government as and when due and I am aware that Dangote Industries is one of the highest tax-payers in Nigeria. But, if indeed for whatever reason that there is a tax for the Kogi State government on Dangote, it has measures and ways of recovery and there is no justification to threaten the closure of that industry.
“We are totally opposed to that kind of measure because there are ways to resolve this amicably in a legal manner and we hope that the relevant authorities in both the federal and state levels would intervene to ensure that this kind of action is not repeated,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State government, yesterday, presented to the public, the report of the Specialised Technical Committee on the Evaluation of the Legality of the Alleged Acquisition of Obajana Cement Company Plc by Dangote Cement Company Limited.
The detailed report, submitted to Governor Yahaya Bello of the state, last month, was presented to the public by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. (Mrs) Folashade Ayoade.
She revealed with documents that the purported transfer of Obajana to Dangote Industries Limited, was ‘invalid, null and void’.
Ayoade disclosed in the report that three Certificates of Occupancy for Obajana Cement Company Plc, which was solely owned by the Kogi State government at the time, were used to obtain a loan of N63 billion by Dangote.
According to her, the Committee, in view of its findings, has therefore recommended that Kogi State should take steps to recover Obajana Cement Company from the Dangote Group.
The Committee, chaired by the SSG, also recommended that, “Kogi State government should take steps to recover all accrued dividends from profits made over the years, including accrued interest on same.
“Kogi State government should take steps to cancel the existing seven Certificates of Occupancy in the name of Dangote Cement Company.”
Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, specifically noted that the acquisition of the Obajana Cement Company by Dangote was without the resolution of the House of Assembly, which made the process 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.
Governor Yahaya Bello said that “he had taken the bold step, in line with his mandate to safeguard the lives and livelihood of the people of Kogi State, including residents, and to ensure their wellbeing.”
Bello said this was also coming on the heels of protests by the people of the state who felt they had been suppressed and marginalised by the Dangote Group who had come to rip them off.
On the manufacturing side, Kogi State government action on the issue will discourage new investments in the State.
