How Saraki Illegally Acquired Ile Arugbo Land: Full Investigative Report by Kwara Assembly

REPORT OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LAND, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ON A MATTER OF GENERAL PUBLIC IMPORTANCE TITLED, ILLEGAL ACQUISITION, APPROPRIATION AND CONVERSION OF GOVERNMENT, PROPERTY WITH SURVEY NO. KWG. 927 AND LAN/G. 1071 SITUATE AT ILOFA ROAD, BY CIVIL SERVICE CLINIC, G.R.A. ILORIN, BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL, PRESENTED BY HON. AWODIJI O. FELIX (IREPODUN).

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Speaker, Distinguished Hon. Members, you will recall that the above titled petition was presented on the Floor of the House on Tuesday, 6th August, 2019 and was referred to the House Committee on Land, Housing and Urban Development for investigation. The Committee was given two weeks to present a report of its findings.
1.1 HIGHLIGHT OF THE MATTER
The Petitioner claimed:

That a property of the Kwara State Government (KWSG), with Survey No KWG. 927 and File No. LAN/G. 1071 situated at Ilofa Road, near Civil Service Clinic, GRA, Ilorin has been illegally acquired, appropriated and converted to private use.
That the above mentioned property was originally part of a 0.97 hectare of land out of which the Civil Service Clinic was constructed.
That the remaining part of this 0.97 hectare of land, which was reserved for the Proposed Parking Space of the Civil Service Clinic as well as the construction of Phase 2 of the Kwara State Secretariat now houses the landed property popularly known as Ile Arugbo.
That the property defined in item (ii) above was allocated to one Asa Investment Ltd with No: COMM. 22866 on the 9th of May, 1991, with neither a Right of Occupancy nor a Certificate of Occupancy issued and with no evidence of payment.

1.2 PRAYERS
The Petitioner humbly prayed the House to look into the circumstances surrounding the illegal acquisition by private company/individual of public property and apply the necessary remediation measures.
METHODOLOGY
The Committee commenced investigation with invitations to the major Stakeholders in the matter, namely:
Akewushola M.Oba (Petitioner);
Ministry of Health;
Bureau of Land;
Surveyor-Generals Office;
Asa Investment Ltd.

3.0 SUBMISSION OF STAKEHOLDERS
3.1 MINISTRY OF HEALTH
The Ministry of Health was represented by its Permanent Secretary, Dr. Mrs. R.F. Ajiboye (mni), who in her submission stated that there were no documents in their archives referring to any land titles regarding the landed property mentioned in the petition. She stated further, that upon the request made to the Surveyor-Generals Office, a copy of the Site Plan defining the space occupied by both the Civil Service Clinic and the Proposed Phase II of the State Secretariat was made available to her, which she presented before the Committee.(Annex I).
3.2 BUREAU OF LAND
The Director of Finance, Bureau of Land, Alhaji Abdulrazak Folorunsho stood in for the Director-General of the Bureau who was away on Annual Leave. His stepwise submissions were corroborated with Correspondences, Survey and Site Plans which spanned a period of 25years, from 28th October, 1980 to 9th June, 2005.
The Bureau of Land submitted 8 very relevant documents which confirmed the exchanges that occurred between the Ministries and Agencies that facilitated the acquisition and survey of the land defined by the co-ordinates mentioned in the petition.
These documents are:
Letter, dated 28th October, 1980, addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, requesting for the allocation of a suitable piece of land already identified, for the construction of a proposed Civil Service Clinic. (Annex II).
Letter with Ref. No. MOH/S/400/S.7/VOL.I /80, dated 22nd May, 1981, addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, accepting the alternative site on which the Civil Service Clinic is currently built, since the initial site on which the Sharia Court currently stands was not approved. (Annex III).
Letter, dated 25th June, 1981, with Ref. No. LAN/G.1071/18, addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development requesting for funds to be made available for the compensation of the Traditional Title Owners of the identified land on which the proposed Civil Service Clinic was to be built. A total of #3,762.00 (Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty Two Naira Only) was requested to be paid. (Annex IV).
Letter, dated 7th January,1991 addressed to the Hon. Commissioner, Ministry of Health from the Civil Service Clinic, requesting for action on the fencing of the Civil Service Clinic to include the space for the proposed Phase II of the State Secretariat in anticipation of the upgrade of the Civil Service Clinic to a full fledged General Hospital. This letter was signed by the Principal Medical Officer. (Annex V).
Letter, with Ref. No. LAND/G/1071/773 addressed to the Secretary to the then Military Government, requesting for approval for the release of the abandoned land initially proposed for the Phase II of the State Secretariat so that it can be used for the desired extension of the Civil Service Clinic. (Annex VI).
Site Plan for the Civil Service Clinic. (Annex VII).
Letter, with Ref. No. LAN/ARO/COM/22866/VOL I, dated 9th June, 2005, addressed to Asa Investment, Iloffa Road, GRA, Ilorin from the Secretary, Kwara State Land Use and Allocation Committee informing it of the allocation of a Plot of Land, defined as Plot 3 and 5 TPS/MISC 129A.
Request for the following payments was also made:
#1,042,000.00 = (One Million and Forty Two Thousand Naira Only) as premium payment.
#5,000.00 = (Five Thousand Naira Only) for Layout Fees.
#52,354.50 = (Fifty Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty Four Naira and Fifty Kobo) as Administrative Charge. (Annex VIII).
Approved Survey Plan for the entire land including the Civil Service Clinic and the Phase II of the State Secretariat.
This plan was dated 23rd March, 1984 and signed by the Surveyor-General of the State. (Annex IX).

3.3 SURVEYOR GENERALS OFFICE
The Deputy Surveyor-General represented the Surveyor-General, who was away in Bauchi on an official assignment. He made available to the Committee, photocopies of directives passed down and signed by the following:
Hon. Commissioner for Land, Housing and Urban Development;
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development;
The Director, Urban and Regional Planning;
The Surveyor-General.
The above directives resulted in the production of the Site and Survey Plans of the land on which the Civil Service Clinic now stands. (Annex X).
3.4 MALLAM AKEWUSHOLA M. OBA (THE PETITIONER)
All attempts to get in touch with the above mentioned Petitioner to have his inputs was unsuccessful as his phone remained switched off.
3.5 ASA INVESTMENT LTD
All attempts to locate the above named Company was unsuccessful as all documentations with the then Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development only addressed the Company as Asa Investment Ltd, Iloffa Road, with no specific numbering.

4.0 OBSERVATIONS
Considering the submissions of the Stakeholders, the Committee made the following observations:
That on the 28th of October,1980, a request from the Ministry of Health for a suitable location on which to site a Proposed Civil Service Clinic was made to the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development.
That on the 22nd of May 1981, the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development identified a piece of land suitable for the Proposed Civil Service Clinic. This location shares a border with the land proposed for the second phase of the State Secretariat.
That on the 28th of June, 1981, Government adequately compensated the Traditional Owners of the land mentioned in (ii) above, for the structures and economic trees that existed on it.
That in 1991, the Principal Medical Officer in the Civil Service Clinic reminded the Hon. Commissioner for Health of the proposal to upgrade the Clinic to a General Hospital which will extend into the land initially meant for the second phase of the State Secretariat.
That a Site Plan was produced for the Civil Service Clinic project, clearly showing the areas occupied by both the Civil Service Clinic as well as the Proposed Phase II of the State Secretariat.
That the Ile Arugbo mentioned in the petition sits exactly in the middle of the Site Plan submitted by both the Bureau of Lands as well as the Surveyor-Generals Office.
That the allocation of the piece of land mentioned in (vi) above to Asa Investment Ltd had no evidence of payment and that no title regarding the land has been processed till date.
That the allocation of the Land to Asa Investment Ltd did not follow any due process but was rather done by Executive fiat.
NOTE: All above observations were corroborated by the Bureau of Land

5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
In view of the foregoing, the Committee wishes to recommend for the adoption of the House as follows:
That the allocation of the Property with Survey No. KWG. 927 and LAN/G. 1071 situate at Ilofa Road, by Civil Service Clinic, G.R.A. Ilorin, (on which Ile Arugbo currently stands) to Asa Investment Ltd be declared void for non compliance with due process.
That the said land be recovered immediately from Asa Investment Ltd in the overall public interest so that it can be used for the purpose for which it was originally meant

6.0 CONCLUSION
The Committee wishes to express its gratitude to the Hon. House for giving it the opportunity to serve the House in that capacity.