Government re-allocates revoked lands to owners

The Bauchi State Government has re-allocated the plots of land earlier revoked from owners at Bauchi State Agricultural Development Programme (BSADP) Quarters.

Mr Baba Sulaiman, the Director General Bauchi Geographic Information Service (BAGIS) disclosed this to newsmen in Bauchi on Thursday.

He said the government decided to reverse the decision reached by a committee set up to recover government property acquired illegally.

“The committee investigated the allocation of plots of land made by the previous government at BSADP quarters, which were revoked on the ground that they were illegally allocated.

“Findings revealed that the committee chairman did not carry out thorough investigation on the alleged illegal land allocation but rushed to revoke the plots without consulting the service,” he said

Mr Suleiman noted that it is the executive right of the governor to approve or revoke land allocation.

He alleged that the committee chairman had by his action, abused the land use Act which stipulates the power to the governor.

“The decision of the committee chairman to revoke the land titles at BSADP Quarters was his unilateral decision and he lacked the authority to do so, without recourse to the Governor’s approval.

“His decision has therefore regrettably misled the Government”, he said.

According to him, the state governor Mohammed Abubakar had recently directed the service to review the action of the committee with a view to reporting to him the true position of the matter.

The DG said the governor had ordered the immediate re-allocation of the land to the owners.

He also revealed that the 600 hectares of land allocated to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, titled Maiwa Farms, have been revoked ” due to increasing demand for land by the citizens, coupled with the non-utilization of the plot by the ministry since its allocation.”

Sulaiman also disclosed that the governor has approved N100 million to pay compensation for land earmarked for the establishment of the state university.

According to him, the university will be located in Alkaleri Local Government Area of the state and would be supported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.