Ile Arugbo: Saraki makes volte-face, begs Kwara govt for out-of-court settlement

The Saraki family has officially written the Kwara State Government to settle out of court over the land the latter recently reclaimed, a step lawyers interpreted to be a face-saving measure in the absence of no document to prove their ownership of the land.

After threatening fire and brimstone and claiming ownership of the land in various media statements, the Sarakis had recently approached the court to claim the land which they insisted was legally acquired.

But court officials said the only document the Sarakis have filed through their firm — Asa Investment Limited— to prove their case before the court is a mere letter of allocation in principle without attaching any Right of Occupancy or Certificate of Occupancy documents.

The government, which said the land was originally meant for state secretariat and civil service clinic but was unlawfully hijacked, has insisted that the said controversial allocation letter contained conditions that the firm never met until the expiration of the 90 days moratorium given to it as far back as June 2005.

In a letter dated 20th January, 2020 and addressed to the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the State, counsel to the firm Barrister Ayodeji Ibrahim said the applicants were now willing to settle the matter out of court in line with the presiding judge’s advice that the two parties should explore out-of-court settlements.

Ibrahim urged the commissioner to use his “good office as the Chief Law Officer of the State to make the necessary arrangements as to time and venue where parties can meet and discuss. While trusting that our request herein would be treated with the needed swift attention it deserves, kindly accept the assurances of our esteem regards.”