Kogi State government is pointing accusing fingers at the Dangote Group after an inferno razed some parts of the Kogi State House of Assembly early Monday.
According to a statement by Kogi commissioner for information, Kingsley Fanwo thugs sent by Dangote started the fire. But in a rebuttal the Dangote Group denied any involvement.
The Kogi State government and the Dangote Group have been at daggers drawn over the ownership of the Obajana Cement Factory.
“The State House of Assembly was set on fire this morning. Remember we exposed plans to attack the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly with fake soldiers yesterday,” Fanwo said in his statement.
“Having discovered that we exposed their satanic plans against the Speaker, they changed tactics to go and burn down the Kogi State House of Assembly. This is an attack on our institution and our people.
“Burning down our Assembly Complex will only further fuel our resolve to right the wrongs of the past. We will take back what legally belongs to us.”
But in their own statement signed by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer Dangote Industries Limited, Anthony Chiejina, Dangote said: “Our attention has been drawn to a circulating Press Statement issued by the Kogi State Government, wherein the Dangote Group was accused of allegedly sponsoring arsonists to set the Kogi State House of Assembly on fire in the early hours of Monday, October 10, 2022.
“The statement titled, ‘Obajana: Desperation sets in as imported hoodlums burn down Kogi Assembly’, which was signed by the Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo pointedly accused our company of burning the Complex “in an attempt to possibly destroy evidence relating to the ownership tussle between the Kogi State Government and the Dangote Group over the Obajana Cement Company.”
“As a socially responsible corporate entity, we totally refute this allegation and condemn this unprofessional and irresponsible attempt to smear our image before local and international investors and thus erode our brand value.
“Dangote Group would never stoop so low as to sponsor thugs to destroy any property, belonging to either government or any individual. This runs contrary to our business ethos and everything we stand for as a leading manufacturer with teeming customers and consumers across Nigeria and Africa.
“Our lawyers have been mandated to react appropriately to the damaging allegation from the Kogi State Government within the full extent of the law.”
Dangote and Yahaya Bello Kogi State governor.