The Kwara State government has cleared Mrs. Toyin Saraki, wife of the immediate past governor, of any involvement in the lease of the Ilorin Amusement Park to the Artee Group, operators of Park n Shop and Spar Supermarket brands in Nigeria.

The clarification followed a reported lawsuit by an Ilorin-based group linking her to the lease.

Making the clarification in a statement issued in Ilorin, the state capital, Information and Communications Commissioner Tunji Moronfoye, dismissed the group's claim as a politically-motivated disinformation, stressing that neither Mrs. Saraki nor anyone associated with her was involved in the lease of the park.

Moronfoye, who emphasised that she only renovated the park in 2004 as a philanthropic gesture, further described the listing of former governor, Bukola Saraki's wife, as a defendant in an alleged suit as a futile campaign orchestrated by the opposition and targeted at the senator's family.

However, following the government's admission that it leased out the controversial Ilorin Old (Yidi) Praying Ground, the Ilorin Elders' group raised fresh posers for Abdulfatah Ahmed's administration.

The elders, who have challenged the transaction in court, tasked the government to tell the public whether a lessee was entitled to Certificate of Occupancy of a property being leased out.

"If it is a lease, how come Kwara State government is issuing Artee with a Certificate of Occupancy? Is a lessee entitled, in law, to C of O or title document of a leased property?" the elders asked in a statement issued in Ilorin and signed by all the litigants, Dr. Saliu Ajibola Ajia, Dr. Sa'ad Omoiya and Alhaji Saleh Duro Garba.

The statement added: "We are not surprised at the government and its hirelings trying to out-do one another in defence of Mrs. Saraki. Gladly too, Kwara State government finally admitted it has indeed 'leased out' the Old Yidi (Praying Ground), contrary to the earlier denials. We are not bothered at this unusual sycophancy and the double speak in the statement issued by Moronfoye.

"So we ask, assuming without conceding that the land was merely 'leased out', the lease is for how many years and for how much? Why using public fund to defend an individual? Why is the government more concerned about the image of an individual, a non-government official, who is a co-defendant than in defending the government which is also a defendant in the case?"

Meanwhile, the Judicial Commission of Enquiry into Erin-Ile/Offa communal crisis has begun sitting at the Conference Room of the Governor's Office in Ilorin.

Speaking at the inaugural sitting, the commission's chairman, Justice Adeyinka Sikiru Oyinloye, said its assignment was fact-finding and advised counsel to avoid unnecessary technicalities that can cause delay, as it has six weeks to submit its report.

In their responses, counsel to Offa and Erin-Ile communities, Bello Shittu and Muyideen Adekoyejo Bello, commended the state government for setting up the commission.

Dr. Saraki had said all Kwarans should be blamed for the clashes between the people of Offa and Erin-Ile.

Speaking during separate condolence visits to the people of the two communities on Monday, Senator Saraki said he believed that justice and fairness should be the watchword of the panel of enquiry into the crisis towards putting an end to the age-long feud.