Ogun says three appeals against Datkem still ongoing

The Ogun state government says the court of appeal in Ibadan did not dismiss the appeal filed by the state against Datkem.

In 2023, Datkem Plaza, a building in the Ijebu Ode area of Ogun state, owned by Olufunke, wife of Gbenga Daniel, a former governor of the state, was demolished by officials of the state urban development ministry.

Subsequently, Datkem Enterprise filed a case against the Ogun state government on September 7, 2023.

A statement on Wednesday by Kayode Akinmade, special adviser on media and strategy to the governor, said the state withdrew one of the four appeals it filed against Datkem affter noticing an error in the title.

Akinmade said three other appeals are still pending against the company.

He said that the court is yet to make any pronouncement on the substantive issues, adding that Datkem has not filed any cogent response to the allegations against it.

“Ogun state government still has three pending appeals against Datkems before the Ibadan division of the court of appeal,” the statement reads.

“With respect to a fourth appeal, the government observed an error in the title of the notice of appeal and opted to not proceed with that appeal but to file another. Because the government had expressly informed the court of its decision to abandon the appeal, the court took a procedural decision to end the appeal and to delete the appeal number.

“This is without prejudice to the right of the Ogun State Government to reinitiate the appeal. The fact remains that Ogun state government still has three strong appeals against Datkems business.

“Those appeals are pending, ongoing, and have been adjourned to 19 May 2025 for hearing. Datkems is yet to submit any arguments in those appeals.”

The state government said Datkem is “desperate and understandably eager to exaggerate its position in the court cases.”