KOLA OYELERE writes on issues trailing the directive by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf during his inauguration on May 29 on gov- ernment assets and properties, including lands in Kano State that led to the demolition of some structures in the metropolis.
THE dust over the change of guard in Government House Kano, Kano State may linger longer than envisaged by most observers. More than four months after the governorship election was won and lost based on the verdict of the Independent National Electoral commission
(INEC), the camp of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and his immediate predecessor, Dr Abdullah Ganduje are still at each other’s throats.
The initial verbal exchanges over certain policies embarked upon by the latter after the electoral setback suffered by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the hands of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP took more curious twists after Governor Yusuf took charge as the chief executive of the state. In fact, the governor literally drew the battle line right from the first blast of the whistle, when in his inauguration speech on May 29, he gave a marching order to security agencies in the state to immediately take over all public properties believed to have been sold by the Ganduje administration.
The governor’s party, NNPP, had during the campaign, promised to lead a process of “restoring” the Kano master plan if it won the election. It accused the then administration of tampering with the Kano masterplan. So, the new government rolled out bulldozers to begin the demolition of what it described as illegal structures on the orders of Governor Yusuf. One of the structures pulled down was a multimillion naira edifice located at Filing Sukuwa, Nasarawa GRA, in the metropolis. The structure, is believed to comprise more than 90 shops was reportedly brought down around 2am. A source who pleaded anonymity alleged: “We got to know that it was the state governor who gave the directive, with security agencies given cover during the exercise.
Later in the day, the state government issued a statement to justify the demolition of the plaza.
The statement was signed by the governor’s spokesman, Comrade Sanusi Bature, stressing that the exercise had no ulterior motive. Specifically, he said the demolition was not in any way an act of vendetta against any individual or group. “It was the first of many to come in fulfillment of the governor’s campaign promises,” Bature emphasised.
He said the exercise should not come as a surprise because the NNPP had for the umpteenth time during the pre-election campaign promised to take some deliberate and drastic measures to right some perceived wrongs in the past political dispensation in the state. He said the party issued constant warnings to members of the public on the consequence of alleged appropriation of government land in the state.
On the allegation of vendetta, Bature denied such accusation because the action embarked on by the new administration was based on public interest. “This is an issue of publicinterest. We said it before the election and even after. If it is vendetta we wouldn’t have mentioned it in the public space.
“We said we were going to do this and Kano people were very happy. They were aware that we were going to do this; and they voted for us based on our campaign promises. So, if we don’t do this, we are not fulfilling our promises.”
Bature said Governor Yusuf did not mince words during his campaign to lead the state in the next four years as governor if elected.
He had promised to recover all government lands that were allegedly allocated to some members of the public, who had gone ahead to erect illegal structures on them.
So far, other structures affected by the demolition exercise are the Haji camp and the old Daula Hotel. Prior to the demolition the government had even before its inauguration, directed the contractors working on the site to stop further construction but they allegedly ignored the warnings. Before then, the governor had visited the Haji camp and expressed his dismay over the situation he met on ground.
To further defend the government action, Bature had quoted the governor of expressing utter disgust over what had almost become of the facilities provided for intending pilgrims to the Holy Land.
He quoted the governor as saying, “I am appalled and disgusted that the facility meant to serve as home for intending pilgrims from Kano State and beyond was debased by the immediate past administration, with many plots of land there sold to their cronies.
When the Nigerian Tribune visited some of the demolished structures, it was observed that youths from far and nearby had invaded the three places, removing valuable materials.
No doubt, the action of the government is generating mixed feelings among residents of the state. While some residents hail the decision of the government to demolish ‘illegal’ structures, which they said was aimed at recovering the lands because they were alleged to have been allocated to friends, cronies and family members of certain authorities in power in the last dispensation at give away prices, others accused the new governor of taking a hasty decision. According to them, he ought to have settled down and followed due process.
But those supporting the governor claimed that there was the case of a person allegedly related to the former governor who bought a plot of land for N30 million, only for him to sell the piece of land for N300 million.
Meanwhile, some people who have expressed their displeasure over the way the demolition exercise was carried out have gone to court to seek redress.
On its part, Lamash Properties Limited, the developer of the properties on the old Daula Hotel land, said the company had commenced the process of instituting a legal action against the government to seek N10 billion compensation among other re-liefs. In a statement by the company’s director of sales, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, said the firm was invited by state government, alongside other companies sometime in 2020 to bid for the redevelopment of the old Daula Hotel under a Public Private Partnership (PPP). The firm described the demolition of its properties as flagrant disregard for globally acceptable principle of fair hearing.
“Our bid, like every other bid submitted, went through all the processes, including going before the State Executive Council, after which we won the bid.
“We were issued the letter of award and we signed a PPP contract agreement with the Kano State government, after which we began work on the project. The value of the land being the equity contribution of the Kano State government into the project plus the agreed profit share of the state government all in the sum of N2,297,016,622.89 only was converted into the hotel and its ownership was given to the Kano State government as its share into the project under the PPP arrangement.” Abubakar added: “On May 27, 2023, the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Abdul-lahi Umar Ganduje, performed commissioning ceremony of the hotel and it was handed over to the state government as its share in the project.
We received a call around 2am on Sunday June 4, 2023 that officials of the state government led by the new governor Abba Kabir Yusuf had mobilised to the site of the project with bulldozers and were tearing down all the buildings on the land, including the already completed 90-room
5-star Daula Boutique Hotel, the 90% completed commercial area (malls) as well as the ongoing residential apartments.
“We appeal to the general public in Kano State and beyond to not only understand the nature of our business as against what is being erroneously portrayed but also to know that the action of the new state government on investors that invested hugely in the state under the previous administration is going to affect the perception of other potential investors coming to put their money into Kano State economy. It will also affect employment generation, wealth circulation and urban development of the state.”
Also speaking on the demolition, former Governor Ganduje said there was nothing new in selling government lands and challenged the NP national leader and ex-governor of the state, Dr Musa Kwankwaso, that the sale of government land took place while he governed the state. He alleged that the policy was introduced when he was the deputy governor to Kwankwaso.
Ganduje said: “I stand to be challenged that the Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s administration in which I served as deputy governor began the sales of government properties in the state.” Ganduje said the sale of government properties was not new and that the new governor should ask his political father (referring to Kwankwaso) about how they began the policy.
“If I am to call out names of senior government workers and politicians that bought government houses, we can spend the night counting. Kwankwaso and I introduced that policy; we sold out houses, most of them to workers, some to politicians. This is nothing new. I worked in Abuja; I resided in a government house and at last, the Federal Government sold it to me.
“They are saying that we have sold government houses not knowing that his father in politics, his grandfather in politics, was the one who started selling government houses.”
Speaking on the ongoing imbroglio, Professor Kamilu Fagge of the Department of Political Science at the Bayero University Kano said the new government seems to be in a hurry after assuming office. “The issue to me is that the present government seems to be much in hurry to the demolition exercise. Before the government of Abba Kabir Yusuf came on board, the structures on public lands had been on ground. The rational way was the way his regime started; he set up a committee to compile the list and also directed the security agents to be stationed at those places of interest.
“But somehow, before the committee set up delivered their findings, the state government had started demolishing some structures.
“Also, take it or leave it, there are also miscreants around looking for any available opportunity to capitalise on. This situation has led to series of vandalisation and looting of private property.”
Some lawyers, who spoke on the issue but preferred anonymity, claimed that the developers were not given a fair hearing.
Commenting on the demolition exercise, the legal adviser of the APC in Kano State, Mr Abdul Fagge, recalled how from 1999 to 2001, “all the buildings that were opposite BUK Old campus were allocated by Kwankwaso and they carved out the Kano City Wall (Badala).
“If Governor Yusuf has the aim of restoring the master plan of Kano, it would have been okay for the present administration to demolish all the properties allocated by the Kwankwaso administration.”
However, the demolition exercise appears to be another long script in the hands of the key political gladiators in Kano State.
