A land dispute in Kano State has taken a dramatic turn as Garba Kwankwaso, younger brother of former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, has dragged incumbent Governor Abba Yusuf to court.

According to court documents, other respondents include the state commissioner for Land and Physical Planning as 2nd defendant; Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KNUPDA as 3rd defendant; the Attorney General of Kano State as 4th defendants and Unknown Persons as 5th defendants.

The lawsuit seeks an interlocutory injunction to prevent the governor and other defendants from taking any action that could harm their interests in the disputed land.

The land in question, located in Kwankwasiyya City, was initially allocated to WAECO Nigeria Limited during Rabiu Kwankwaso’s administration.

However, his successor, Abdullahi Ganduje, revoked the allocation after a 2017 investigation by the Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission revealed that WAECO was not a legal entity at the time of the allocation.

The Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission had revealed that the actual company behind the “WAECO” acronym was “Water and Agricultural Engineering Company Limited”, in which the former governor and his brother were alleged to be directors.

After the revocation, Mr Ganduje relocated Mallam Kato Square to a portion of the land and returned the remaining hectares to the original owners, including the famous Dantata family.

According to sources, the incumbent governor of the state, Abba Yusuf, however resisted pressure to revoke the land, measuring over 100 hectares, and return it to WAECO NIGERIA LIMITED.

Following the governor’s alleged refusal, Garba Kwankwaso then filed an application at a Kano High Court, pursuant to Order 38 Rule 4,(1), Order 39 Rule 1 (2), Order 45 Rule 14 of The Kano State High Court Rules, 2014, praying for the Following orders:

“1. AN ORDER OF INTERLOCUTORY INJUNCTION restraining the defendants/respondents either by themselves, their agents, privies, servants, representatives and/or contractors or whosoever acting on their behalf or instructions from entering upon, demarcating, beaconing, partitioning, building, allocating any part or doing any act adverse to the interest of the Plaintiffs/Applicants on the plaintiffs/Applicants’ piece of land lying and situate along Western By-Pass at Kwankwasiyya 11, Kano, Kano State particularly described in Survey Plan No. TP/KNUPDA/333 delineated red and marked as WAECO NIGERIA LIMITED covered by Certificate of Occupancy No. LKN/COM/2013/84 (hereinafter called “The Subject (Property”) pending the determination of the Substantive suit filed by the Plaintiffs/Applicants.

“2. And such other order(s) as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this case.”

The application is supported by a nine-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Faith Job, a litigation secretary in law firm of P.A. Attabor & Co., counsel to the Kwankwasos.

Granting the order on November 13, Justice Usman Na’abba adjourned the case till November 27 for hearing of the application of the interlocutory injunction.

In an effort to ensure value for money, accountability, and transparency in the implementation of public projects, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has commenced tracking of N10 billion worth of Federal Government-executed projects in Osun State.

The commission started the phase 7 of project tracking exercise at Boripe community, Egbedore Local Government area of the state, Temidire Estate, Osogbo, among others.

The N10 billion worth of projects include eight solar-powered boreholes, 120 solar streets light and some kilometers of drainage in the community.

The ICPC tracking team leader, Mary Oke, said that the the Commission will track projects valued at N10,470,872,906.60 in Osun State, ensuring that government-funded projects provide value for money and are executed according to specifications.

Oke disclosed that exercise is part of the Commission’s mandate to promote accountability and transparency in the implementation of public projects.

Oke adds, “The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, is in the phase 7 of its Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Exercise in the State.

“The exercise, which include assessing the status of various constituency and executive projects, is to also ensure that public resources are judiciously utilized to deliver quality infrastructure and services to the citizens.

“Relevant stakeholders, including community members and civil society organizations should support the tracking exercise by providing the Commission with relevant information that can aid in achieving its objectives”.

Meanwhile, the treasurer of Boripe community, Egbedore Local Government area of the state, Mr Olorunsola said that the federal government projects had impacted positively on the lives and exonomy of the community.

He disclosed that the solar street lights, installed over a year ago in the community has safe them from been attack by the people of underworld.

He said, “I want to enjoin members in the community to be vigilant and take good care of these facilities that we enjoy from the government.

“The government has done its own part and it is left to us to maintain and keep vigilant so that the people of underworld will not vandalise the facility.”

Vanguard News

The Federal Government’s attempt to extradite pro-Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa, from Finland to face terrorism charges in Nigeria may hit brickwall.

According to The Africa Report, this is due to Finnish legal restrictions.

The self-declared prime minister of the Biafra Government In Exile (BRIGE) was arrested alongside four others by Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) over terrorism related activities.

The Finnish police said they suspect that Mr Ekpa “has contributed to violence and crimes against civilians in South-eastern Nigeria.”

Nigeria’s defence chief, General Christopher Musa while reacting to the arrest, said the country will proceed to push for Ekpa’s extradition to Nigeria.

While Finland has confirmed Ekpa’s arrest, the country made it clear that, according to Finnish law, the country will not extradite its nationals outside the European Union or Nordic countries.

This further complicates Nigeria’s request since there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.

Even though Finland and Nigeria are in contact, the legal framework prohibits the transfer of citizens for trial in non-EU countries.

According to reports, everything has to be done according to Finnish legislation, which has very strong protections for freedom of speech

“The issue of an extradition treaty is very fundamental. If there is no extradition treaty between the two countries, there can be no legal basis or justification for extraditing Ekpa,” a Lagos-based lawyer Festus Ogun said.

Vince Onyekwelu, former British Police Officer and National Security Risk Strategist said the chances of Ekpa’s extradition to Nigeria are also slim.

Onyekwelu said while appearing on Arise TV:

“Professionally speaking, the Finnish Authorities have done their due diligence and have every right to arrest Simon Ekpa. It is left for the court to look into the request by the Chief of Defence Staff to extradite Ekpa to Nigeria. However, with the absence of an extradition treaty between Nigeria and Finland, Ekpa’s extradition will seem unlikely.”