A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday fixed April 23 for the final report of out of court settlement between the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, and Turai Yar’ Adua, wife of late President Umaru Yar’Adua over a disputed 1.84 hectares of land in Abuja.
The new date was given after lawyers to both parties met for almost one hour in the Judge’s chamber, discussing the way forward, following the total breakdown of out of court negotiated settlement.
The disputed land, Plot No. 1347 Cadastral Zone AOO, Central Business District, Abuja, FCT, was initially allocated to Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF), while Mrs. Yar’Adua was First Lady.
FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, revoked the allocation due to what he described as “overriding public interest”, and reallocated the same land to Mrs. Jonathan for the building of African First Lady Peace Mission Headquarters on November 2, 2011.
Mrs. Yar’Adua complained that the land allocated to WAYEF on February 19, 2010 was being trespassed upon by Mrs. Jonathan, and got a court order dated March 5, 2012, restraining the defendants from affecting WAYEF’s title and interest over the land.
Those joined as co-defendants in the suit are FCT Minister, Federal Capital Administration and Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS).
WAYEF, through its lawyer, Lagi Innocent, is asking for N1 billion as general damages, N100 million as exemplary damage, N100 million as aggravated damages, in addition to N261 million already paid for Certificate of Occupancy, as well as N454 million paid for building designs.
As part of moves to get a negotiated settlement, FCTA has offered WAYEF Plot. 1838 Cadastral Zone AOO, Abuja, measuring 6119.29 square metres, as replacement plot.
While another Plot 1839 was also proposed to be in favour of the African First Lady Mission, measuring 6100.51 square metres.
The said Plot Nos 1838 and 1839, are subdivided from Plot 700 CBD Cadastral Zone AOO, Abuja.
He mentioned that WAYEF had begun the process of notice of committal to prison on the defendants by filing Forms 48 and 49, adding that it was unfortunate that people could no longer trust the government.
While adjourning the case to September 24, 2012 for report of settlement, Justice Affen “advised parties that the nature of the case is such that if parties can reach amicable settlement, it would be better for all sides.”
JD:It is a pity this issue had to come to this level,completly desecrating the institution of the presidency.The president should have waded in long before it came to this and advise his spouse to show restraint,but then i guess veryman has his own weak point.not being able to control onesbetter half happens to be one of them
Who is the Iroko-man?Let us be realistic. Democracy has not yet come of age in Nigeria. To think it has, is to get lost in the palnseat distractions of the politically inactive. Of course it is about money. Of course it is about power. Of course it is about ethnic hegemony. Given that, we must scrutinise the current state of play with this very much in mind. This is about an old man, fed only on the struggle for power, who quite simply wants to stay. In a moment of arrogant weakness and a power-drunk sense of immortality, he graciously offered to save the insolent masses time and trouble. Not the time and trouble to suffer the daily indignities of life in our country today, but the opportunity to exercise his God-given right to vote on a true represetenttive to serve his interests, to protect his liberty and to provide him with the opportunity to be whoever he wants to be. But the Third Term gambit failed. This was a sign, a critically prophetic sign, that we may have finally crossed the Rubicon. Change is finally here and here to stay……… but change, if it is to be truly sustainable, develops incrementally. It buds slowly but flowers well. FACT: OBJ will remain in charge for at least the next decade. FACT: Yar Adua is his proxy. FACT: No-one, not even OBJ, knows where we go from here. As such, we must move quickly to respond, to shape and to nurture this challenge to our liberty. This does not mean the realities on the ground must be undermined, it means that we must think of how we can guide the progress of this new and unprecedented state of events beond the Rubicon. It means we must be POLITICALLY ACTIVE.Painful to contemplate it might all be, but (i) face up to the facts; (ii) look closely in the mirror and (iii) ask yourself what YOU have done to shape Nigeria’s destiny TODAY.
If we are to get things right, these lands should be allocated to the office of the first lady and NOT the first lady. If Turai acquired the land for her official projects using allocations meant for the office of the first lady, it ain’t hers! The issue of revoking shouldn’t even arise as one would think that the property belongs the office. On this ground I would conclude that the first lady’s African Lady’s mission would become her personal property when her husband leaves office in 2015 (His leaving the office is for SURE). Its in Nigeria that after most govt official use an official car, they don’t return the cars.
In the first place how are they able to afford hundreds of millions for C of O, building plan and all. How much are they paid, because it seems to me that they are a signatory to the Nation’s account.
Very unfortunate the President can’t even control his ‘madam’, we shouldn’t be surprised he doesn’t have control over anything.
Is quite unfortunate that president can not caution the wife over these issued assuming she is not first lady what will have happen