A High Court of Justice in Oyo state has fixed March 2nd, 2020 for the hearing of a suit between Governor Seyi Makinde and former Governor Abiola Ajimobi over the revocation of his landed property at Agodi Government Reservation Area (GRA), Ibadan.
This was made known in a document obtained by insideoyo.com on Tuesday.
Ajimobi is claiming N15million from the defendants being cost of the action, including the expenses incurred to file each of the cases, and his attorney’s professional fees.
Recall that insideoyo.com had earlier reported that the government of Oyo State has approved the revocation of some plots of land located within the Agodi Government Reservation Area (GRA) and Jericho axes of Ibadan, the state capital.
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A development that made Ajimobi sued Governor Seyi Makinde and other officials of the state government.
The matter involves the revocation of a property owned by Ajimobi at Agodi, Government Reservation Area (GRA), Ibadan, to which the former governor has filed four suits numbered: I/183/2020, I/184/2020, I/185/2020 and I/186/2020 at the state’s High Court.
The Oyo State Registrar of Deeds has been listed as a witness to be subpoenaed by Ajimobi during the trial.
In the document before the court, Ajimobi is contesting the basis of the notice, which was sent by the state government on January 31.
According to the documents filed by the legal counsel of the former governor, the property to be revoked is no longer existent in name as it was merged with another property by the claimant with the “landed property comprised in the Deed of Gift, dated March 17th, 2015 between the former governor and Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Arisekola Alao, the late Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland. It is registered as No. 17 at Page 17 in Volume 3714 of the Deeds Registry Office, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.”
According to Ajimobi, the land in dispute was donated to him by Alhaji Alao, and was acquired by him by the virtue of Statutory Right of Occupancy dated February 10th, 2009 and registered as No. 35 at Page 35 in Volume 3556 of the Lands Registry Office, Ibadan. The donor was said to have enjoyed undisturbed possession of the land before donating it to the claimant.
It was also merged with the property registered as No. 16 at Page 16 in Volume 3714 of the Lands Registry Office, Ibadan, and was fenced round for the development of guest chalets, church, mosque, recreation areas and the country home of the former governor.
According to the documents, the former governor has not breached any of the covenants running on the land.
In the lawsuit, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development were accused of forcibly entering, trespassing and breaking into Ajimobi’s landed property on the 17th of October 2019.
The main gate of the property was allegedly destroyed, the doors of all the rooms in the property were smashed, and several valuable building materials in the property were also allegedly destroyed.
All these, according to the lawsuit, were perpetuated by officials of the ministry, armed policemen and suspected political thugs of the Oyo State governor.
In what was described as an act of trespassing, the former governor has since lodged a complaint with the police, and the individuals involved are being investigated.
The police have also interrogated the Commissioner for Lands, who is the third defendant, and his cohorts, and according to the lawsuit, was accompanied to Abuja by an official from the office of the Attorney General.
