Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state has reversed his decision to demand N7.5 billion from the Nigerian Navy for 100 hectares of land in Abigi, Ogun Waterside Local Government Area, which was earmarked for the construction of a naval operating base and dockyard.

Hours after Peoples Gazette published a report that the Ogun Bureau of Lands asked the navy to pay billions of naira for the hectares of land in Abigi, Mr Abiodun’s government —which did not respond to earlier requests for comments on the matter before publication— issued a rebuttal on Thursday evening announcing the land was given for free.

The governor’s aide Kayode Akinmade insisted that the payment advisory was only “standard protocol” to show “the geographical location of the land and the supposed cost of allocation.”

Mr Akinmade said the advisory was only “prepared for the attention of the governor” even though the letter seen by The Gazette dated August 8 showed that it was addressed to the Nigerian Navy Headquarters in Garki, Abuja.

“Exercising his powers as governor and with national security imperatives in mind, His Excellency directed that the land should be granted to the navy ex gratia (free of charge), and thereafter, the proper survey plan was executed, and a certificate of occupancy on the land was signed by His Excellency,” the statement issued on Thursday said.

“The same has since become a registered document at the Abeokuta Land Registry as we speak,” the statement added.