Ogun East Youths Ask Governor Dapo Abiodun 31 Questions

Your Excellency,

We write to you as a coalition of young men and women born and raised in the Ogun East Senatorial District, sons and daughters of Ijebu, Remo, and the communities that constitute the eastern heartland of Ogun State.

We are not your enemies, nor the emissaries of any political camp. We are citizens who have watched, waited, and wondered. And it is in that spirit of democratic sobriety, not malice, that the Forum for Concerned Ogun East Youths addresses you today.

We are willing to weigh your record against your promise and engage you as the serious political figure you present yourself to be. But that willingness is conditional .on accountability. And it begins with the following thirty-one questions, which the people of Ogun East deserve to have answered fully, publicly, and without the deflection that has too often substituted for governance in your seven years at the helm of this state. These questions are rooted in documented public records, credible investigative reports, civil society petitions, and. the lived experiences of ordinary Ogun State residents. Answer them, and we will listen. Refuse them, and the people of Ogun East will draw their own conclusions.

THE 31 QUESTIONS
On the Certificates
1. In 2019, opponents filed petitions alleging that the educational qualifications you .submitted to INEC were falsified or inconsistent, including a primary school timeline that critics say is chronologically impossible..Governor Abiodun, do you have a complete, verifiable, and unimpeachable academic record? If so, why have you consistently resisted independent scrutiny of those documents?

On the Florida Criminal Record
2. Court filings and investigative reports have cited a 1986 criminal record in the .state of Florida, United. States, for offences including credit card fraud, petty theft, check forgery, and resisting arrest, allegedly. committed under the alias Shawn Michael Davids. Governor Abiodun, is this record accurate? And if so, was this information ever disclosed to INEC or to Ogun State voters before either of your gubernatorial elections?

On the Pandora Papers
3. Your name appeared in the Pandora Papers leak as the ultimate beneficial owner of undeclared offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. Governor Abiodun, what is the legitimate business purpose of those entities? Were their earnings ever declared to Nigerian tax authorities? And can the people of Ogun East trust a man to represent them in the Senate whose financial dealings require offshore secrecy?

On the AMCON Debt and How It Was Settled
4. Before your assumption of office, you carried a documented debt of over N20 .billion owed to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), a liability that became a subject of public scrutiny and raised questions about your financial fitness for public office. Governor Abiodun, that debt has now reportedly been settled within your years in office. Can you provide a full, transparent account of how over N20 billion in AMCON debt was cleared on a governor’s salary? What were the sources of those funds, and can you confirm that no public resources, contracts, or state assets were involved in facilitating that settlement?

On the N80 Billion Airport
5. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, your administration reportedly spent over N80 billion on the Ogun Agro Cargo Airport, N29.6 billion in 2021 and N52.5 billion in 2022. Governor Abiodun, where are the procurement records for this expenditure? Why was the state’s e-procurement website reportedly taken offline precisely during the period this scrutiny intensified? And who are the contractors?

On the Sudden Rise of Heyden Petroleum
6. Prior to your assumption of office, Heyden Petroleum was widely regarded as a dormant or underperforming enterprise. Since 2019, the company has reportedly undergone a remarkable transformation, expanding aggressively, acquiring multiple filling stations across the country, and emerging as one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing downstream energy businesses. Governor Abiodun, what explains this extraordinary turnaround? What is your current financial relationship with Heyden Petroleum? And given that this expansion occurred entirely during your tenure as governor, can you assure Ogun State residents that no public funds, state contracts, or preferential government dealings contributed to the company’s growth?

On the Alubarika Farms Scandal
7. The civil society group HEDA petitioned the EFCC alleging that your administration fraudulently presented a private rice farm, Alubarika Farms, as a World Bank-assisted state agricultural project. Governor Abiodun, is Alubarika Farms a privately owned enterprise with ties to your family or associates? And if so, was public money expended on it under the guise of a government project?

On the Constitutional 10% IGR
8. Reports indicate that your administration has failed to remit the constitutionally required 10% of Internally Generated Revenue to local governments, despite the clear legal obligation. Governor Abiodun, can you produce audited records showing consistent compliance with this constitutional requirement across your tenure? If not, who authorised the withholding of those funds?

On the Real Motive for the Senate Bid
9. As your tenure draws to a close, several civic observers have questioned whether your senatorial ambition represents a genuine desire to serve, or a calculated retreat from accountability at the state level, a move designed to secure legislative immunity before the full weight of your governance record can be independently examined. Governor Abiodun, is the Ogun East Senate seat something you are pursuing as a continuation of public service, or as a strategic exit from scrutiny?

On the Banana Island Properties of Your SSG and Finance Commissioner
10. It is being widely reported that your Secretary to the State Government, Talabi, and your Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Okubadejo, two men who have served as the closest members of your inner circle throughout your administration, have recently acquired and moved into choice properties worth billions of naira in the high-brow Banana Island estate in Lagos. Governor Abiodun, are these reports accurate? If so, how do two public servants, paid within the bounds of government salary scales, acquire billion-naira properties on Banana Island during active service? And what does this say about the culture of financial propriety within your administration?

On 110,000 Unemployed Youths

11. Youth unemployment in Ogun State has remained stubbornly high throughout your tenure, with over 110,000 job seekers reportedly registered on state platforms. Governor Abiodun, beyond the creation of portals and the announcement of programmes, how many verifiable, sustainable jobs have been created under your watch, and can you produce employment data to support those figures? This is apart from your loyalists whom you appointed Special Advisors.

On the 66 Abandoned Projects
12. Your administration inherited 66 abandoned capital projects from the prior government. Governor Abiodun, how many of those projects have been completed? How many remain abandoned or suspended? And how many new projects commenced under your administration face the same fate?

On the Federal Road at Wole Soyinka Station
13. The access road to the Wole Soyinka Train Station in Abeokuta was rehabilitated and fixed by the Federal Government, not by the Ogun State Government. Yet, Governor Abiodun, your administration reportedly commissioned the repaired road and erected Ogun State Government signposts on it, in what many residents and observers describe as a brazen act of credit-grabbing on a federal project. Is this accurate? And if so, does it not represent precisely the kind of image management over genuine governance that has defined your seven years in office?

On Healthcare Staffing and Facilities
14. Healthcare delivery in Ogun State has been criticized for persistent staffing shortages, poor facilities, and broken promises of recruitment. Governor Abiodun, can you present verifiable data on the number of doctors, nurses, and health workers employed by the state government since 2019, and on which facilities have been upgraded or newly constructed?

Your Alleged Limping Leg Scandal
15. Governor Dapo Abiodun, your alleged limping leg has been often tied to claims of a mishap during an extramarital affair. Critics whisper that you jumped from a multi-storey building to escape a woman’s matrimonial home when her husband unexpectedly returned, causing the injury. Is there any truth to this scandalous tale, or is it just smear tactics from rivals?

On Emergency Services
16. Social activists have publicly raised alarms about the inadequacy of emergency services in Ogun State, specifically the absence of functional and well-distributed ambulance infrastructure. Governor Abiodun, in a state that aspires to industrialization and population growth, what is your emergency services framework, and why have these concerns persisted unaddressed throughout your tenure?

On Water, Sanitation, and Electricity
17. Ogun State residents and civil groups have consistently complained about the state of water, sanitation, and electricity infrastructure, despite various pledges made since 2019. Governor Abiodun, which specific communities in Ogun East now have clean, reliable water access that did not have it before you took office?Which communities have working sanitation facilities built under your watch?

On the Suppression of LG Autonomy
18. Critics, including suspended APC figures and opposition voices, have accused your administration of orchestrating the removal of local government chairmen who dared to challenge your handling of allocations. Governor Abiodun, is the autonomy of local government councils in Ogun State genuine under your watch, or are LG officials who dissent punished for speaking up?

On the 2023 LG Elections
19. Reports indicate that your administration failed to address what observers describe as widespread irregularities in the 2023 local government elections in Ogun State, with accusations of imposition and overbearing central control. Governor Abiodun, do you believe the results of those elections reflect the genuine will of Ogun State voters?

On Inclusive Governance
20. Across your tenure, credible voices within your own party and across civil society have raised concerns about a pattern of political intolerance, the suspension of officials who ask questions, the marginalization of voices that do not align with your inner circle, and a governing style that rewards loyalty above competence. Governor Abiodun, if you have been unable to govern inclusively within your own structure, how do you intend to serve as a Senator for all of Ogun East, including the many constituents who have never voted for you?

On the Airport’s Commercial Future
21. The Ogun Agro-Cargo Airport has consumed tens of billions of naira, yet its commercial viability and operational timeline remain unclear to the public. Governor Abiodun, Who are the private partners involved,.and what are the terms of their investment agreements with the state?

On Grassroots Development in Ogun East
22. Critics have argued that your administration has prioritized large, elite-facing infrastructure projects at the expense of grassroots development in rural and semiurban communities. Governor Abiodun, can you name five specific communities in the Ogun East Senatorial District, not in Abeokuta, where your administration has made a transformative, visible impact on daily life?

On the Culture of Propaganda Over Policy
23. Civil society organisations and opposition groups have argued that your standard response to public criticism has been propaganda and media management rather than concrete policy action. Governor Abiodun, of the top ten complaints raised by Ogun State residents over the past seven years; roads, jobs, schools, healthcare, water, security, LG allocations, abandoned projects, which three can you point to as resolved conclusively, with evidence?

On Security in Ogun East
24. Security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, and criminal activity along key Ogun State highways, have been reported with increasing frequency. Governor Abiodun, what specific security architecture has your administration put in place for Ogun East? How many security operatives, technology deployments, or community policing frameworks can you enumerate as achievements?

On the Small Farmer in Ijebu and Remo
25. The Ogun East Senatorial District has historically been home to a vibrant agricultural economy, yet smallholder farmers in communities across Ijebu and Remo divisions continue to cite poor access to inputs, markets, and credit. Governor Abiodun, beyond the Alubarika Farms controversy, what has your administration concretely done to empower the small farmer in Ogun East?

On the N494 Billion Debt
26. Ogun State’s public debt rose from approximately N166 billion when you took .office in 2019 to over N494 billion by 2025, a near-tripling of the state’s debt burden in just six years. Governor Abiodun, what specifically was this borrowed money used for? And what infrastructure or development projects of comparable value can the people of Ogun State point to as justification for leaving future generations with that liability?

On the Diverted LG Allocations
27. Your administration was accused by Ijebu East Local Government Chairman Wale Adedayo of diverting LG federal allocations and misappropriating a N10.8 billion subsidy bailout fund meant for local governments. Governor Abiodun, do you dispute this allegation? If so, where are the financial records that refute it, and why have affected LG chairmen been suspended for raising the issue?

On the London Property, the Rolls-Royce, and Acquisitions in France
28. Credible reports and public intelligence have pointed to the recent acquisition of a luxury property in a prime part of London, a brand-new Rolls-Royce, and various other assets in France, all occurring within your years as governor of Ogun State. Governor Abiodun, are these reports accurate? If so, can you provide a transparent account of the legitimate sources of income that funded these acquisitions? And would you be. willing to submit a full declaration of your assets, both domestic and foreign, to an independent verification. body before the 2027 campaign season begins?

On the Collapse of Public Education
29. Under your administration, Ogun State’s education budget was reportedly cut to just 16% of total spending in 2021, and schools in underserved communities like Ogun Waterside have been described by education advocates as severely overcrowded and underfunded. Governor Abiodun, what measurable improvement in literacy rates, school enrolment, or learning outcomes can you demonstrate across your seven years in office?

On Your Legislative Vision
30. You are now, by all political indicators, pursuing a seat in the Nigerian Senate,.a chamber designed for legislative oversight, national policy, and the protection of citizens’ rights. Governor Abiodun, having spent. seven years in the executive arm, what specific legislation do you intend to sponsor or champion in the. Senate? What is your legislative vision for Ogun East?

On the Ordinary Young Man from Ogun East
31. Finally, and most simply; Governor Dapo Abiodun, after seven years as the chief executive of Ogun State,.if you were an ordinary young man from Ogun East, a graduate without connections, without contracts, without a political godfather, would the Ogun State you are leaving behind give him a fair chance at a decent. life? And if your honest answer is no, what makes you believe the Senate is the next destination for your public service rather than the courtroom of public accountability?

Your Excellency, these thirty-one questions represent the minimum threshold of .public accountability that the Forum for Concerned Ogun East Youths believes any aspirant to the Ogun East Senate seat must clear, and they represent a fraction of the concerns circulating in the markets, churches, mosques, and living rooms of this senatorial district.

We do not ask that you be perfect. No public servant is. We ask only that you be honest. That you face the record of your tenure with the same confidence with which you seek the endorsement of our votes. That you treat the people of Ogun East not as a constituency to be managed but as citizens to be respected.

If you answer these questions, fully, credibly, and in good faith, you will have demonstrated something that seven years of press releases have not; that you are accountable. If you decline, or offer the calibrated silence and media management that has been your administration’s preferred response to hard questions, then we will have our answer too.

The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not a retirement gift for departing governors. It is an. institution of lawmaking, oversight, and representation. Ogun East .deserves a senator who has earned that. seat in the full light of public scrutiny. We await your response.

Respectfully submitted,
Forum for Concerned Ogun East Youths
Ogun East Senatorial District, Ogun State, Nigeria
March 2026