The Federal Government, under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, revoked a landed property in Maitama, Abuja, belonging to the family of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. The approval was given in 1993, while the revocation occurred in February 2006 when Nasir El-Rufai was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
Five years later, precisely on May 25, 2011, ex-FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, a former lawmaker, issued a Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) in favour of a company, Salamed Ventures Limited, even though a legal proceeding on the property was ongoing.
The firm, according to available information, acquired the property at the cost of $1.3 million during the time the matter was pending at the Court of Appeal. Since then, the Abacha family and the authorities have locked horns in a fierce legal battle.
The property was not in contravention of any law of the FCT or the Land Use Act, so taking a closer look at the revocation, it was neither done in the public interest nor carried out in contravention of the rules and regulations. The Abacha family continues to insist that the property was lawfully acquired.
Mohammed Abacha and Dr. Maryam Abacha, acting as administrators of the estate, had approached a High Court in February 2006 under Justice I. M. Bukar. On June 30, 2009, Justice I. M. Bukar struck out the suit, saying the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the appropriate court was the Federal High Court.
The plaintiffs then proceeded to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, citing an infringement on their rights. Subsequently, on May 18, 2015, the court affirmed the verdict of the trial court and struck out the suit. The plaintiffs thereafter instituted the present litigation on May 25, 2015, following the judgement of the appellate court.
On July 19, 2024, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court dismissed the claims of Mohammed and Maryam Abacha. Justice Lifu ruled that the Abacha family lacked the locus standi to challenge the revocation nor demand a N500 million compensation. Counsel to the family, Reuben Atabo (SAN) said the trial court erred in the suit dismissal.
Now, in the appeal which joined President Bola Tinubu, the FCT Minister, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and Salamed Ventures Ltd as respondents, the plaintiffs are asking the Court of Appeal to set aside the sale and transfer of the title to Plot 3119, Maitama, measuring 3 hectares of land to Salamed on February 25, 2011.
The Abacha family also want the court to set aside the judgment of Justice Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which on July 19, 2024, dismissed their suit on the property. The family are further praying for the Appellate Court to invoke Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act to take over their legal battle as a court of first instance.
Speaking on the matter, an Abuja-based lawyer, Barrister Abdulsalam Nasiru, noted that the plaintiffs have the opportunity to present their case at the Federal High Court as ordered by the Court of Appeal, adding that it was wrong for the government to sell the land while the case is ongoing.
“In my opinion, the revocation was a lack of respect for the law. Whatever made the former FCT Minister set such a precedent is questionable. On one side, the action appears like humiliating the ex-president’s family. On the other hand, it shows disregard for the Land Use Act, which the family followed to acquire the property.”
Said Akintade Shittu, a public affairs analyst, also gave his opinion on the controversial legal tussle. “First, one can blame Sani Abacha for some misdoings, as in the cases of other past presidents, but there was legality in the way the land in dispute was acquired.
“Second, whoever advised Nasir El-Rufai and Bala Mohammed to revoke and afterwards sell a property after revocation, while the same property is being disputed in court, got it wrong. Until court processes are exhausted, any action taken on a disputed landed property may look personal.”
