Obanikoro did not deny his visit to the site. In a heavily worded reaction days later, he agreed that he had visited the area of the state as a concerned indigene of Lagos who was bothered by the safety of residents of the state. He said prior to the visit, he had nursed some fears and wanted to either confirm or discard the fears. “I made an unscheduled visit to the land on the fateful day in question to take a physical assessment. Perhaps the presence of the military men attached to my convoy is what was termed ‘commando-like’ by the Lagos State government. But one would expect that the governor should know better if his intentions are genuine,” he slammed.

He further dismissed the allegation that he stopped the continuation of work at the site. According to him, residents of the state could confirm that as at when the government raised the alarm, work was still ongoing at Ilubirin. “Beyond a physical inspection of the land by my team, no attempt was made to disturb workers on the site. It, therefore, was a mirage that the governor saw what he allegedly claimed to be a deployment of solders to the land and the phantom signpost proclaiming the land a Federal Government property,” he said.
In his opinion, the Lagos State government had been pricked into the consciousness that it had done the wrong thing concerning the land. He disclosed that the original reclamation of the lagoon to create Ilubirin housing site was illegal, citing sections 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Nigerian Inland Waterway Act of 1997 to back his argument. He said the government failed to get the approval of the Nigerian Inland Waterway Authority, NIWA, before embarking on the project.

“Given the commencement of development on that land by the state government, it is clear who the land grabber is. My worry is on the safety and the appropriateness of the reclaimed land for mass housing. Mass housing is for middle and low-income earners who depend largely on the government to ensure and protect them against environmental hazards and natural occurrences. It is for these people that the Lagos State government plans homes for on a reclaimed lagoon land. I have spoken to experts on matters of reclaimed land and related environmental hazards in relation to this land. None of them has seen the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Ilubirin development nor the protection plan against rise in water levels.” He further stressed what he described as existing allegations by researchers that the reclamation of Ilubirin was contributory to flooding in areas of Lagos Island.

“In other words, a comprehensive EIA with stakeholders’ approval is sacrosanct to the development of that land. The question is, did Lagos State government get such before the commencement of the development on that land?” he queried.

Apart from this, Obanikoro noted that one of his fears was confirmed. And this had to do with the project being very close to electricity cables which used to be in the middle of the water. He said, “While I recognised that it is usually difficult to enforce the legal setbacks for development around such high-tension cables in Nigeria, it was disturbing to see that the Lagos State government may be in the process of violating such setbacks,” adding that this would compromise the safety of lives and property of proposed residents of the estate when completed.
Though Obanikoro received a lot of battering from the APC and other residents with sympathy for the state government, he did not budge. At least, he had made his point and added a plus to his mission.

Then came the governorship election in Ekiti, for which the APC still broods but which Jonathan and the PDP have continued to celebrate. Obanikoro proved with the success of the PDP in that election that he has a back on which the President could rest his thought to win the South-West.

Days before the election, the minister became a major force to reckon, with even though he is not an indigene of the state. Unable to bear such intrusion any longer, John Odigie-Oyegun, former governor of Edo State and current national chairman of the APC, shouted out to Nigerians to help call Obanikoro to order. Odigie-Oyegun said the 21 June election had been planned by the PDP and Obanikoro to favour PDP and attributed series of reasons as justification for his belief that the election would be rigged. One was the heavy militarisation of the state ahead of the election.