Kwara state bureau of lands says
the Saraki family did not make payment for a piece of land it occupied in
Ilorin, Kwara state capital.
The state government in December
took over the land, saying it was originally designated for the construction of
a secretariat and the parking lot of the civil service clinic.
Bukola Saraki, former senate
president, had said the land was duly allocated and that a right of occupancy
was issued on it.
But Ibrahim Salman,
director-general of the bureau of lands, in a statement on Wednesday, refuted
this claim.
“The entire land was later
redesigned in the 1980s for the construction of a Civil Service Clinic, State
Secretariat, and a parking lot for both the Clinic and the State Secretariat.
“The Clinic was subsequently
constructed in 1982, while the remaining plots of land were conceived for the
expansion of the Clinic into a full-fledged Hospital.
“The dream of the State
Government was stalled when part of the land slated for the parking lot was
spuriously allocated in principle to one Asa Investment for commercial purpose.
“From available records, the allocation
was not based on a formal application, nor application forms filled; there was
no evidence of payment for the said allocation as stipulated in the letter of
allocation in principle and consequently, no right of occupancy was ever issued
to the Company.
“Furthermore, in flagrant abuse
of the allocation terms, the company took possession of the land and
constructed what is today known as “Ile Arugbo” on part of the land that was
designed as parking lot and later conceived to host the expansion of the Civil
Service Clinic into a full-fledged Hospital.”
He said following a resolution of
the Kwara state house of assembly mandating the government to revoke the
allocation, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of the state, signed an instrument
to reclaim the land on the grounds that it was unlawfully allocated.
He said the statement issued is
to state the facts on the land as contained in the records of the bureau.
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