Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun on Monday expressed disappointment over the loss of a $16 billion Dangote refinery to Lagos State after a break-in discussion between the immediate past administration, led by Ibikunle Amosun, and the chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.

Abiodun expressed his feelings during the convocation lecture he delivered at the 2nd and 3rd convocation ceremony of the Mountain Top University.

While delivering the lecture, titled, “Quest for Excellence: The Nexus of Faith, Knowledge and Resilience”, the governor said he had the privilege to work as the chairman of the Olokola Free Trade Zone where the refinery was to be sited.

According to him, the project was not just conceived with the aim of only refining petroleum products, but to take advantage of the mining lease that had been awarded around the corridor.

He said, “I worked as chairman of Olokola Free Trade Zone that was meant to have the Dangote refinery cited in Ogun Waterside, however, discussion broke down between Dangote and the then administration which led to the loss of that project to Lagos State; a $16 billion refinery was lost to another state.

“That project was conceived with the aim of not just refining petroleum in Ogun, but also take advantage of the mining lease that had been awarded around that corridor that has even not begun to be exploited.”

Abiodun, however, said his administration is working towards ensuring that the state takes advantage of its oil rich deposit and becomes an oil producing state.

He expressed optimism that the state will become oil producing, saying “we are working assiduously on that, so, I accept this challenge, we will further strengthen our resolve to ensure that we bring Ogun State to oil producing status in the very near future.”

The governor affirmed that the state has very rich oil reserves in Tongeji Island, adding that “Ogun state is situated in the Dahomey Basin, which stands for the Niger Delta that goes all the way to Ghana. Everyone of the states in that corridor are oil-producing today, even Ondo and Lagos states.”