Kogi government gets dragged to court for giving FG land

The Kogi State government has been sued to court over its decision to provide 5,000 hectares of land for the Federal Governments plan to build cattle colonies for cattle herders.

An aspirant for the House of Assembly, Sheyi Babaeko, filed the suit against state governor, Yahaya Bello, and the state's Commissioner for Justice and Commissioner of Lands.

In the lawsuit number HCH/08/2018, Babaeko, a Kogi native, argued that the government has no business providing resources for a private business.

The suit also questions the governor's constitutional power to acquire land for cattle breeders who have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons.

Babaeko said that the enterprise does not fall under the public interest of the citizens of Kogi State.

The state government has 42 days to respond to the summons.

15 states already signed up for colonies

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 15 states have expressed interest in being part of the cattle colonies initiative.

The list of states includes: Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Jigawa, Yobe, Niger, Kogi and Kwara.

Plateau State was listed as another interested state until Governor Simon Lalong's public rejection of it.

The ministry has implored states to sign up for the initiative because it addresses the needs of cattle herders by providing resources to care for their cattle while avoiding unnecessary conflicts over economic resources between them and farmers.

States who sign up for the initiative are expected to volunteer 5,000 hectares of land each.