Kwara Assets panel told how lands meant for courtrooms were sold

Date: 2020-11-19

· First allocation done in 2009

Several plots of land allocated in the 1980s for the construction of courtrooms in Ilorin were arbitrarily sold out by the administrations of former Governors Bukola Saraki and Abdulfatah Ahmed without following the due process, the judicial panel on assets recovery heard on Wednesday.

Director General of the Bureau of Land Barrister Bolaji Edun told the panel that the lands in Tanke area of Ilorin had been allocated to the judiciary as part of the planning for the state but were gradually auctioned out from 2009 without the government first revoking the allocation of same in line with the law.

Edun was answering questions regarding a petition filed to the panel by the state judiciary which seeks restoration of the land amid shortage of courtrooms in the state capital. The judiciary also complained of unlawful encroachment on the leftover of the land by at least two occupants: Candidate Hotel and the Nigeria Society of Engineering Secretariat.

Edun said the earliest state allocations on the land were made in 2009 and the issuance of C of O started in 2013 while the Bureau of Lands could not find the C of O of Candidate Hotel in its record.

"The extension and encroachment seen at the Hotel were not part of the C of O granted. In fact there is no record of its title in our files," he said.

Edun clarified that the entire land from Rhema Chapel around Tanke Tipper Garage to Prince Gambari building in Tanke Iledu was allocated to the state judiciary in 1980.

Also testifying, the Acting Surveyor-General of Kwara State Ibrahim Muhammad admitted that the entire land belongs to the judiciary, saying he could not find any file in respect of revocation of the land from the judiciary.

On Wednesday, members of the Kwara State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on the sales of Government assets inspected the land where Candidate Hotel and Nigeria Society of Engineering Secretariat are built in Tanke.

Chairman of the panel Justice Olabanji Orilonishe had earlier adjourned the ongoing public hearing for the inspection following inconsistencies in the testimony of the chairman of Candidate Hotel Raphael Adunmo before the panel.

During the visit, the panel found out massive encroachment on the land, with existing judiciary structures for high courts converted to poultry and the hotel's makeshift bar.

The panel observed that the Candidate Hotel and Nigeria Society of Engineering Secretariat are built on the frontage of the proposed Kwara State High Court in Tanke.

Adunmo, a retired Chief Town Planning Officer in the state, had earlier denied building permanent structures beyond his approved land but later admitted encroachment when the hearing resumed after the visit.

"There was a publication in respect of the layout of the land and I applied. I was given allocation and I have papers for my allocation and C of O. I encroached on the land because it became problem for my hotel. It used to be criminal hideout," he admitted.

Adunmo said he took over the structure when it became a hideout for criminals after several reports to F Division Police Station and the then Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Dr Bayo Ishola, and others officials of the ministry without allocation.

 


Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Nigeria Customs Service     Mohammed Haruna     Gwanara     Raymond Olaitan     Funmilayo Braithwaite     Sunday Fagbemi     Olaitan Buraimoh     Abraham Ojo     Kwara South     Amosa     Afolabi-Oshatimehin     Trader Moni     Abiodun Musa Aibinu     Muhammadu Gobir     The Herald     Ilorin East/South Federal Constituency     Durbar Festival     Chief Imam Of Omu-Aran     Lithium Deposit     Garba Dogo     Ahmed     Maryam Ado Bayero     Emmanuel Bello     Shuaib Olarongbe     Forgo Battery     Afetu Of Alabe     Garba Idris Ajia     International Aviation College     Olatunji Abdulmumeen     Abdulrahman Onikijipa     Split Diamond Interchange     Olabode George Towoju     Jamila Bio Ibrahim     David Oyepinola Adedumoye     Moses Salami     Senate President     Eghe Igbinehin     Sarakite     Bola Magaji     Samuel Adaramola     George Funsho Adebayo     Abdullahi Saadudeen Alikinla     Chikanda     Bello Oyebanji     Yahaya Oloriegbe     Adolescent Girls Initiative For Learning And Empowerment     Aliyu Salihu     Nigerian Medical Association     Adamu Jemilat-Baki     Federal Road Maintenance Agency     Naira Redesign     Saliu Alamoyo     Amina El-Imam     Okin Group     Bukola Ajikobi     Ibrahim Abdullahi     March 18     Moses Adekanye     CT Ayeni     Government Girls’ Day Secondary School Pakata     Oke-Ogun     Ahmed Saidu Rufai     Ibrahim Taiwo Road     Is\'haq Modibbo Kawu     Jaiz Bank     Turaki     Baaziki Sulaiman     Mazars Consulting     Niyi Osundare     KWATMA     Issa Manzuma     Jide Ashonibare     Omoniyi Ayinla     Musa Yeketi     Prince Sunday Fagbemi     Muslimah Entrepreneurship Forum     Noah Yusuf    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Obuh     Dorcas Afeniforo     Oyedepo     Lanre Aremu     Omotosho     Bashir Adigun     Dan Iya     Demola Banu     Road Transport Employers Association Of Nigeria     Ramadan     HICA     Oju Ekun Sarumi     Abdulwasiu Bolaji Adeyi     Iyeru Grammar School     Falokun-Oja     Bello John Olanrewaju     Sarah Alade     Wahab Femi Agbaje     Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq     Muhammed Akanbi     All Peoples Party     David Oyerinola Adedunmoye     Kayode Alabi     Adesina Simon Sodiya     Ekiti     Babs Iwarere     Ezekiel Yissa Benjamin     Gbadeyan Gbadura Yomi     GGDSS Pakata     Afin Descendants Union Of Odo-Owa     Abdulrahman Iliasu     MATTA Girls Foundation     Dagbalodo     Geri-Alimi Split Diamond Interchange     Jelili Yusuf     Kwara State Pension Board     James Ayeni     Yusuf Lawal     Garba Ado Sanni     Mogaji Aare     Danhawa     Adebara     Bello Abubakar     Offorjama     Lateef Fagbemi     Omoniyi M. Ayinla     Mujtabah Bature     Mohammed Danjuma     Ibrahim Oniye     Ado Bayero     Jimoh Akani     GANZY     Lawyers Unite Against Corruption     George Innih     Ibrahim Mashood     Adeleke Ogungbe     Olatunji Moronfoye     Sarkin Malamai     Kolawole Bashirat     KWIRS     Sam Onile     Ahmed Bayero     Abdulrauf Aliyu     Adeola Abraham     Taofeeq Olateju     Dan Masanin     Kwara Consultative Forum     Alfa Modibo Belgore     Albert Ogunsola     Idi-Ape     Idris Garba     Opaleke Bukola Iyabo     Tosho Yaqub     Esinrogunjo     Tunji Olawuyi     Alikinla     Abdullah Janet Amudat