The Kwara State Government has carried out another demolition at the Ile Arugbo of the Sarakis.
On Tuesday, Justice Abiodun Adewara of a Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, struck out a suit against the demolition.
The judge said the appellants, Bukola Saraki’s Asa Investment Limited, again failed to call any witness to support their claim that the land belonged to late Olusola Saraki.
On Wednesday, Asa Investment condemned the government “hasty action”.
A statement by Akin Onigbinde (SAN) called it reckless, illegal and glaring impunity, insisting that the matter was still in court.
“Less than 24 hours after the court fixed March 27, 2021 for hearing of the counterclaim filed by the government, the state ordered bull-dozers to go on to the property about 2.25am and 4.20am on February 3, 2021, to further demolish structure and materials on it.”
He noted that counsel to the government, on record of court at previous sittings, gave an undertaking not to destroy the property until the dispute is determined.
Onigbinde accused the judge of not giving the company ample time to present its case.
He said on a single day, the court granted an application to them to substitute the name of Alhaji Sanusi Baba-Eleku, a co-claimant with Asa Investment Ltd, who died recently with another, Alhaji Abubakar Oluwatoyin.
“Before allowing the new party to file his witness statement on oath as required by law, the court struck out the case of Asa Investment Ltd without allowing the new party the opportunity to even put forward his case to Court for adjudication.”
Onigbinde lamented that the government overreached judicial process by further destroying the property during the pendency of hearing.
The statement added that the state government has violated the undertakings it made in open court not to interfere with the res judicata.
“This action taken in the dead of the night will be challenged appropriately. We will not allow a government which should symbolise democracy and rule of law to be the one acting with impunity or seeking to subvert the course of justice”, it read.
Razak Atunwa, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) 2019 governorship candidate in Kwara, has lambasted the governor.
“If Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq thinks that by going to carry out more demolition of ‘Ile Arugbo’, he can distract the public’s attention from the illegal N35bn loan he wants to secretly obtain, he’d better think again. #Kwara35BillionScam”, the ex-Kwara Speaker tweeted.
