Ogoja Court restrains Ayade from allocating court premises for individual development

An Ogoja Division of the Cross River State High Court has granted an interim order restraining any person from entering the premises, housing Magistrate Court 2 in the Ogoja Magisterial Division, pending the determination of the Motion on Notice filed by the Ogaja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on that matter.

The local NBA branch had approached the Court, seeking an order to stop the sale, and or allocation of the magistrate court premises to the Leader of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Peter Odey, following the approval of Governor Ben Ayade for the allocation of the land to the lawmaker for the building of his personal house.

The case, after the restraining order was issued, was adjourned to March 18, 2021, for the hearing of the Motion on Notice.

Odey, Tribune Online gathered, had written to Governor Ayade for land to be allocated to him in Ogoja Local Government Area, to build a private residence.

The governor, relying on the provisions of the state’s Land Use Act,1978, which gives him the consenting authority, as well as approval for the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy, approved and directed the Lands Commissioner, Mr John Inyang to allocate a parcel of land for Mr Odey as requested.

Inyang, acting on the directive of the governor, had allocated a plot directly behind the Ogoja Local Government Secretariat, next to the Ministry of Justice annexe at the Government Residential Area in Igoli, to Odey. The land so allocated happens to be where Court 2 of the Ogoja Magisterial Division, presided over by senior Magistrate Eno Iyamba, is situated.

Magistrate Iyamba, Tribune Online further gathered, sits alongside Chief Magistrate Ekong Imona on a rotational basis in Court 1, due to the parlous state of Court 2 which was worsened by a windstorm that blew off the roof.

Trouble, however, started, when land and legal experts argued that the power of the governor to allocate land, is limited to the extent that he cannot revoke public property, in this case, Judiciary property, and allocate same for private interest or to a private individual.

It was further gathered that the Magistrates quickly informed the Chief Judge, Justice Akon Ikpeme and the Police who arrested workers who appeared on the site last week Saturday to begin work.

Odey had told journalists when contacted, that he “did not ask that a Court be given to me. I only applied to the Governor for a piece of land in Ogoja to build a house and the Governor approved. The Commissioner allocated that space to me. I didn’t even know it is a Court. If there is contention around it, it is the Commissioner that should address it. If anyone has any question, it should be directed to the Commissioner.”

When construction work began again on the said land on Monday morning, the Magistrates again reported the matter to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps(NSCDC) charged with the responsibility of protecting sensitive public infrastructure, and two of the workers were promptly arrested and their work implements, seized.

Odey, however, hinted that he had directed that work should stop. “I have directed that work should stop on the site until matters are sorted. I don’t want a Court. I just need land to build a house. If anyone even came up to me to tell me there is an abandoned Court there that needs repair, I would have contributed to fixing it for my people.”

As at the time of filing this report, work had stopped at the premises, while efforts to reach the Commissioner for Lands, Inyang, proved abortive as e did not pick the calls made to his mobile phone.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.Ogoja Court restrains Ayade from allocating court premises for individual development

Ogoja Court restrains Ayade from allocating court premises for individual development