A prosecution witness in the trial of former Minister of the
\nFCT, Nasiru el-Rufai, Mr Sunday Idowu, insisted that the accused illegally
\nallocated plot 1201 to his family members.<\/p>\n
Idowu, an EFCC officer who led the investigations which
\nfacilitated the arraignment of el-Rufai and two others, said that the accused
\nrevoked the land belonging to the PHCN and allocated over 10 plots to himself
\nand friends.<\/p>\n
Arraigned with el-Rufai are
\nformer Director-General of the Abuja Geographic Information System
\n(AGIS) Altine Jibrin, and its former General Manager, Ismail Iro.<\/p>\n
The EFCC is charging the trio for abuse of public office and
\nillegal conversion of a land meant for the construction of transmitting\/injection
\nsub-stations of the PHCN in Asokoro.<\/p>\n
They were also alleged to have conspired and converted plot
\n3352 located in Maitama, belonging to NIPOST for the construction of district
\npost office.<\/p>\n
el-Rufai is accused of allocating 10 plots of land in
\nAsokoro District in various sizes to his family members, including his two
\nwives, Hadiza and Hasiya.<\/p>\n
The EFCC claimed that he committed the offence between 2003
\nand 2007.<\/p>\n
At the resumed hearing presided by Justice Abubakar Umar of
\nthe FCT High Court, Idowu also said that during the investigation, he did not
\ncome across any letter from PHCN asking the FCT minister to reduce the parcel
\nof land.<\/p>\n
Idowu, during cross examination by Chief Kanu Agabi(SAN),
\ncounsel to Iro said that he did not come across any letter written by the PHCN
\nthat it no longer required the land for a 330kva corridor at the site.<\/p>\n
He said that it was not only the 10 family members and
\nfriends of el-Rufai that were named as beneficiaries of the land allocation on
\nplot 1201.<\/p>\n
Idowu said that the daughter of a former Executive Director
\nof the FCDA, Alhaji Mohammed Alhassan, also benefited from the allocation.<\/p>\n
When asked on the role played by Iro in the act, Idowu said
\nthat he and Jibril had failed to advise el-Rufai against the revocation, as
\nresponsible public officers.<\/p>\n
Idowu said that as stakeholders in the administration of
\nlands in the FCT, they failed to advise the minister to reverse the decision
\nand restore the land back for what it was meant for.<\/p>\n
During further cross examination by Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN),
\ncounsel to el-Rufai and Jibrin, Idowu agreed that the power to allocate and
\nrevoke land in the FCT was vested in the minister.<\/p>\n
He also agreed that a minister of the FCT and his\/her family
\nmembers had a right to own land anywhere in the country.<\/p>\n
Regarding the revoked NIPOST plot in Maitama, Idowu said it
\nwas meant for a post office, but he did not know the terms of allocation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A prosecution witness in the trial of former Minister of the FCT, Nasiru el-Rufai, Mr Sunday Idowu, insisted that the accused illegally allocated plot 1201 to his family members. Idowu, an EFCC officer who led the investigations which facilitated the arraignment of el-Rufai and two others, said that the accused revoked the land belonging to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[62],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n