Zoological Garden: Firm Alleges Wrongful Revocation Of Land, Institutes Lawsuit Against FCT Minister, FCDA, Praco Ltd
- A Lagos -based company, Micro Investment Limited , has filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike alleging wrongful revocation of a parcel of land in Abuja which was earmarked for the establishment of Zoological Garden.
- Wike , the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and a private company, Praco International Limited, are the 1st , 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively in the suit marked FCT/HC/GAR/CV/422/2024.
- In the suit in question, Micro Investment Limited is challenging the propriety or otherwise of the revocation of its land and reallocation of the same land to another private firm in an alleged gross violations of Section 28 of the Land Use Act 2004.
- Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the firm in the suit filed on its behalf by an Abuja -based legal practitioner, Isiaka Kadiri of Reuben Atabo, SAN, law firm, claimed that the land known as plot 582 located in Kukwuaba District was allocated to it on October 5, 1997, by the then FCT Minister and the FCDA.
- Upon payment of all mandatory fees, the plaintiff claimed that it received the Right of Occupancy (R of O) and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) on March 25, 1998, via C of O number FCT)/ABU/MISC;15004 with file number MISC 15004.
- However, between 2005 and 2007 , during which Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai served as FCT Minister, the aggrieved plaintiff asserted that it received an instruction that all land title holders in the FCT should submit their respective documents for recertification and issuance of new ones.
- The firm, the lawyer noted, had promptly complied with this directive and received acknowledgement on July 26, 2006, and had since been in possession of the land.
- Trouble was however said to have surfaced on May 25, 2023, when a purported withdrawal notice on the land was issued to it based on a purported court judgment in a suit marked FCT/ABU/CV/812/2022 between Praco Nig. Ltd and Mohammed Musa Bello.
- The land was said to have been allocated to Praco Nigeria Ltd on July 7, 2023, with file number MISC 148056 while the plaintiff became aware of the alleged unlawful act vide a letter dated July 7, 2023, from the FCT Department of Land Administration.
- The plaintiff queried the allocation of the land to another private company, insisting that such a revocation can only be legally and lawfully carried out by the defendants on grounds of overriding public interest.
- It therefore prayed the court to void and set aside the purported revocation of its land and reallocation of the same to Praco Nigeria Ltd for private use instead of public use as stipulated by law.
- The plaintiff also sought an order of the court that its title be declared valid, lawful and legitimate and that it has exclusive rights to use and occupy the land.
- The firm also prayed for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and their agents and privies from tampering with or interfering with its ownership of the land.
- Similarly, the plaintiff asked the court to order the three defendants to jointly pay N200 million as general damages for the alleged unlawful acts carried out against the firm.
- No date has been fixed for hearing and determination of the suit-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
