South west governors’ forum ends as Ogun refuses signing MoU

A mild drama played out yesterday at the end of the two-day meeting of the governors of the South West when the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Yetunde Onanuga, refused to sign one of the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs).

She explained that the state’s refusal to sign was because Lagos breached an earlier agreement it had with Ogun State on rice cultivation.

At the end of the meeting, the states were to sign two MoUs; Shareholding agreement, which admits Lagos State into the Odua Investment Group and Land allocation for agriculture purpose, but Ogun State did not sign the second MoU.

She nonetheless said Ogun State would be prepared to sign this MoU latter, when the issues are straightened out.

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode said Lagos needed to acquire land across South West states to expand its agriculture output.

“What is happening between us and the Ogun State government was that there were some minor issues that were outstanding, that was why they didn’t sign. But you can hear from the Deputy governor that they are committed to signing when those issues are resolved. ‘’

However, the communiqué read by the Director General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), Mr. Oluseye Oyeleye, stated that the states of the region, as a bloc will be monitoring the process for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Concession into a world class infrastructure.

The forum also agreed that Lagos State is formally a member of the O’dua Investment Group.