Sufuyan Ojeifo
16 June 2008
Abuja — The Joint Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Housing, co-chaired by Senator Abubakar Sodangi and Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah respectively, has slammed former FCT Minister, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, for abuse of office in the purchase of the guest houses belonging to the Vice President.
The committee, in its interim report billed for submission to the Senate any time from now, said:" Mallam Nasir el-Rufai copiously abused his office/powers when he and his acolytes bought houses without bidding. Such houses include the Vice President's Guest houses, the Nigerian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank Guest houses in Maitama and a host of others."
El-Rufai had told the Committee during the public hearing that the guest houses were put up for sale after the bidding process had been concluded, adding that the action was approved by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo in order to take care of government officials whose official houses were exempted from the sale.
The committee also said the land allocations by el-Rufai between May 15 and 28, 2007 were made when he had become "functus officio" (when he had seized to function as a Minister).
The Committee stated in the report, entitled: "Senate Joint Committee on FCT and Housing Interim Report on the Investigative Public Hearing on the Activities of the past Administrations of FCT from 1999 to 2007; Findings and Recommendations", that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) was dissolved on May 15, 2007 and therefore el-Rufai should not have acted in the office of minister on account of the FEC dissolution.
Consequently, the Committee, in the 24-page report with many annexures, recommended that the FCT administration should revoke the 4, 352 plots allocated by him between May 15 and 28, 2007.
According to the report, "Breakdown of the allocations made in two weeks of his leaving the office shows that he signed out 3,645 and on the last day of his leaving office May 28, 2007, the minister signed out 655 plots, even though he has seized to be Minister on the 16th of May 2007 as the Federal Executive Council was already dissolved by the former President. This act the committee finds to be absolutely illegal."
The Committee also stated in the interim report that some fictitious persons were allocated 19 plots of land in Jabi area of Abuja, pointing out that the plots were eventually merged into a plot and reallocated, consequent upon its re-subdivision, to forty-five allotees.
According to the Committee, "On scrutinising the policy files of the property, it became obvious that some of the allotees were under-aged; some got the allocation before completing the land application forms; some got it on the date of application, while others got theirs one or three days after applying.
"However, a common factor in the applications was that no evidence of application fees could be found in the files.
"The certificates of occupancy were signed for and collected on 28th May 2007 by one Cyril Ezeamaka, a Personal Assistant to the then Minister, El-Rufai.
"This action, the Committee finds to be gross abuse of office/power and a crass, primitive undue acquisition of wealth without caution or regard for society."
In the report, the Committee recommended that the Federal Government should compensate victims of wrongful demolitions of houses under the el-Rufai administration. The Committee said that over 30,000 houses were wrongfully demolished.
"All houses which had competent Court orders before the demolition must be restored, while every person with a valid Certificate of Occupancy and approved drawing whose structure was demolished should also be compensated," the Committee added.
It also called for restoration of land allocations to government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) whose lands were also revoked by the el-Rufai administration.
The Committee also stated in the report that el-Rufai reallocated to his family members many of the plots which were said to have been revoked for overriding public interest.
The Committee said that the complaints in most of the memoranda it received on revocation of land titles were that revocations were not done in accordance with the Land Use Act or the terms of the certificate of Occupancy.
According to the Committee, lands revoked for overriding public interest, non development or being in unauthorised areas were "ingeniously" reallocated to other persons.
The Committee specifically said: "The erstwhile Minister of the FCTA, Mallam el-Rufai, in response to the above allegations, admitted that he made errors in reallocating unathorised plots to members of his family, e.g., his wife and brother; he, however, also admitted that some of the allocations were in good faith as they were carried out in order to restore the Abuja Master plan."
But speaking through his Chief of Staff, Mallam Balarabe Abbas Hassan, el-Rufai, in a riposte yesterday, poked holes in the Committee's claim that the FEC was dissolved on May 15, 2007 and therefore he (el-Rufai) stopped being a minister from May 16, 2007.
According to him, "It is not true that the minister acted outside his tenure. The FEC was not dissolved until May 29, 2007 and even the FEC met late on the 28th of May. The Minister remained in office until the 29th of May when another government was sworn in."
He said further, "The former President is still alive, the Minister is still alive and other Ministers are also alive, you can verify this claim."
He pointed out that although the former Minister has not had the privilege of being furnished with a copy of the interim report and therefore could not respond to the other details beyond the defence he had given before the Committee at its public hearing, he had to respond to the claim by the committee on the dissolution of FEC which attempted to distort the fact.
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