By Henry Ojelu

Punuka Investment Limited has faulted a claim by former Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Sir Kayode Otitoju, and his wife Oladunni over setbacks in the Lekki area of Lagos state.

Mr. Otitoju had petitioned Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, urging him to order the unsealing of his road setback housing a mechanic workshop in Lekki Phase 1.

He claimed that the place was sealed by the Ministry of Water Resources at the instance of the commissioner, Tokunbo Wahab, and Punuka Investment.

Otitoju’s wife, in a separate petition to the state House of Assembly, also claimed that her farm housing an abattoir in the same location was sealed.

Responding to the issue, Punuka Investment, in a statement yesterday  by its counsel Adeyinka Abdulsalam, urged the Otitojus to leave it out in ventilating its grievances with the authorities.

The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to two publications by Sir Kayode Otitoju and his wife, Oladunni Otitoju, in which our company’s and our director’s names feature.

“PUNUKA Investment Limited was in effective possession of the said setback until agents of Sir Kayode Otitoju trespassed on it and established a mechanic workshop within it.

“PUNUKA Investment Limited, being a law-abiding citizen, sued Sir Kayode Otitoju and his company Jukot Ventures Limited, which he purports got a license to operate a mechanic workshop within the setback and canal culvert. The purported license was obtained while the case was pending.

“Also, specific power over open spaces in the state is vested in LASPARK, not the Ministry of Transport. Further, a mechanic workshop is not a transportation activity within the purvey of the Ministry to allocate an open space.

“While the Ministry can issue licenses, it has no power to allocate an open space for this purpose. It is for the person seeking such a license to provide appropriate land where such activity can be legally operated.

“Only LASPARK can allocate or license open spaces. Sir Otitoju and his company are determined to place various government agencies in conflict through non-disclosure and compromise of the system.

“LASPARK does not license those who adopt open spaces for trading purposes through leases to mechanic and abattoir operators in a residential/commercial highbrow area but for beautification and other environmentally friendly investment and use.

“The lawsuit, SUIT NO: LD/4808CMW/2023, is currently pending before Honourable Justice Olukolu of the High Court of Lagos State, and thus, we are unable to offer further comment on its merits because the matter is sub judice.

“We advise the Otitojus to ventilate whatever grievance they may have against the administrative actions taken by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to the appropriate authority and leave the names of our company and our director out of their publications.”