Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan
Oyo State Government has ordered illegal occupants at Agbowo Shopping Complex to vacate the complex as its renovation would commence soon.
The illegal occupants have been occupying the shopping complex without paying rent to the state Government since 2012.
The State Commissioner For Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Abiodun Abdu-Raheem, who was on inspection tour of Oyo State Housing Corporation Estates in Ibadan metropolis noted that the state government would not condone usage of its property illegally.
“The situation of things at Agbowo Shopping Complex is worrisome. What baffles me more is that the tenants at the shops who have now turned themselves to landlords going by their attitude maintained that the last time they paid their rent was in 2012. This is not good at all and we are using this medium to inform them that renovation of the edifice will soon start and we have no choice than to eject them”.
Describing the complex as gold mine that the state must be properly maintained, Abdul_Raheem urged the illegal occupants to bear with the government and move out of the shops as government could not renovate the place with people still occupying the building.
The Commissioner, who also visited the Owode Housing Estate, Apata Ibadan and Bashorun Estate, Akobo Ibadan, noted that the state government was interested in Public Private Partnership, PPP, and portions of the land at Owode Housing Estate might be given out to developers to provide infrastructure.
He added, “The state government is ready for any investor who wants to partner with it as this would bring about development. The people here at Owode Housing Estate are in need of infrastructure like good roads, and portions of the land at Owode Estate, Apata might be given to developers who are interested, for proper development of the area”.