Kwara stays action on Saraki’s land

By Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

The Kwara State government last night confirmed it had been served the writ of summons on the controversial Ile Arugbo (old people’s home).

The government said it had not received the court order restraining it from taking further action on the land on which the demolished Ile Arugbo was built.

Attorney General and Justice Commissioner Salman Jawondo said: “As a government that believes in the rule of law, we have decided to stop further action on the matter until the final decision of the court.”

The commissioner explained that the injunction granted would expire after seven days, adding that by the time the case is argued in the court, the injunction would be withdrawn.

He said the case would come up for hearing on January 15, 2020.

Jawondo also said the intention of the state government was to demolish and build the state secretariat on the expansive land, as planned.

He said: “Since we have not been served the court order, it could mean that we have not been restrained. But the issue is that even before they got the order of interim injunction on our own, we had stayed actions on it.

“Our decision was taken last Friday when they brought the advance copy of what was brought today, which is official.

“This is because we want to follow the rule of law. So, whether they served us this order or not, we have stopped further action as a government that believes in the rule of law.”

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Jawondo also said the Kwara State government did not know the facts presented by the Sarakis, which prompted the court to grant them the injunction. But the commissioner hoped that by the time the case is argued in court, the injunction would be withdrawn.

He said: “But we know as a matter of fact that by the time we place the real fact before the court, it will know that in the first instance they did not deserve the order of injunction granted them.

“From what we have, the Sarakis don’t have anything other than the 2005 allocation paper, which stated six conditions before they could construct on the land and not one of those conditions was fulfilled.”