\n\nThe Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, on Monday, granted an ex-parte injunction restraining the Kwara State Government from further demolition of late Olusola Saraki\u2019s property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PREMIUM TIMES reported the controversial demolition of the building, also known as Ile Arugbo, last Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ile Arugbo served as the political home of the late Kwara politician during his lifetime and after his demise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This newspaper reported that the demolition was done in the morning amid protests by residents of the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judgement was delivered on Monday in Ilorin, the state capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court also said the state government should not go near the land, \u201ceither to construct or do anything on the land pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, according to TheNation newspaper, one of the family\u2019s lawyers, Abdulazeez Ibrahim, said that the order is yet to be served on the parties concerned \u201cbecause the injunction was secured almost at the close of work on Monday\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was true that we secured a court injunction against the state government, but it took place at the closing hours, so no enroll order was available for the concerned parties,\u201d he was was quoted to have said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State reacts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the Kwara State Government said it has not been served any court order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Communication Commissioner, Murtala Olanrewaju, stated this when making some clarifications on Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the property demolished was a \u2018shed\u2019 occasionally used for political gathering and \u201cnot any home belonging to old people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cContrary to the claims by the opposition, the physical reclamation of the property by the government on 2 January 2020 was without any incident. Nobody was met on the property. It was never a place where people lived in, so the question of ejecting, maltreating or deploying violence against anyone did not arise. No court process has been served on the government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Olanrewaju alleged that the whole narrative about government demolishing old people\u2019s home was a fabrication by the opposition \u201cto cover up for their lack of any document confirming their ownership of the property bordering the civil service clinic in Ilorin, the state capital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe property is one of the over 100 government assets in GRA, Ilorin Kwara State, Victoria Island Lagos, Kaduna, and Abuja investigated by the Asset Recovery Committee led by Senator Suleiman Ajadi, which were unlawfully converted to private use. Until its physical reclamation, the property comprised only of sheds,\u201d Mr Olanrewaju said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the state governor, had last month, announced the decision to revoke the late Olusola Saraki\u2019s property owing to an alleged illegality in its acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said the land was originally designated for the construction of a secretariat and parking lot of the civil service clinic, \u201cbut that it was unlawfully allocated to a private firm \u2014 Asa Investments Limited \u2014 without any record of payment to the state government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, the son of the late Saraki, Bukola Saraki (ex-Senate President) had earlier countered the statement, saying his late father lawfully acquired the land from the state government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Saraki, in his reaction, vowed that justice would prevail in no distant time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, Gbemisola Saraki, the transportation minister and daughter of the late Saraki, also chided the action of Mr AbdulRazaq.\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, on Monday, granted an ex-parte injunction restraining the Kwara State Government from further demolition of late Olusola Saraki\u2019s property. PREMIUM TIMES reported the controversial demolition of the building, also known as Ile Arugbo, last Thursday. Ile Arugbo served as the political home of the late Kwara politician during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n