Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeLatest PostLagos Assembly Denies Secret Approval of Land In Magodo Phase One -...

Lagos Assembly Denies Secret Approval of Land In Magodo Phase One – Naijanewsdirect

 

The Committee On Lands in the Lagos State House Of Assembly, has denied a recent media report that it made secret approval of land to Ojoko family in Magodo GRA Phase One, describing the report as unfounded and spurious.

Chairman of the House Committee On Lands, Hon. Richard Kasunmu said at a press briefing in the Assembly Complex on Friday stated that the committee had investigated the land tussle between Ojoko family and the Community Development Association (CDA) of Magodo GRA Phase 1, Gateway Zone, stating that the executives of the CDA severally boycotted meetings initiated by the Committee.

Kasunmu explained that it was a shock to him and the committee members to read on the pages of newspapers that the assembly had made secret approval of land in the area to Ojoko family.

The lawmaker stated that it was not part of the House rules for a committee to make resolutions on behalf of the Assembly, saying that the committee only made recommendations, which would be submitted to the Assembly when the House resumed from recess.

“It will be very wrong for Magodo Zone CDA to blackmail and wrongly accuse this noble House Of Assembly of secretly approving a land to Ojoko family when we are yet to present our report of investigation to the Assembly.

“As a committee, we cannot make resolution on the land tussle but we can only make recommendations to the House, then the 40 lawmakers would deliberate on the recommendations and make resolutions. I am talking to you authoritatively that we did not secretly approve any land,” Kasunmu said.

While clarifying further, the lawmaker stated the CDA was using the instrumentality of CDA to frustrate the investigation by the committee, stressing that it would be malicious for the CDA to have resorted to media blackmail.

In a petition written to the House of Assembly by Ojoko family of Olowo-Ira, Magodo, dated 14th November, 2019, through their counsel, GV Chambers, the family stated that they had been the owner of the vast land from time immemorial and had always exercised maximum acts of ownership thereon.

The family stressed that “it is trite knowledge that the Land Use Act dispossessed various land owning families, including ours of proprietary ancestral inheritance for public use and common good.

“It is also knowledge that whenever and wherever this is done, an official gazette will be issued by the government specifying the extent of acquisition. This was done and an excision was subsequently granted to our family in the wisdom of the Lagos State government for the use of the family and our future generations.”

The family explained that they were shocked, dismayed and utterly disturbed by publications of injurious falsehood emanating from one Oyebode Ojomu describing the property first as a designated green zone.

“What is of grave concern to us as lawyers and our clients is the further involvement of New Towns Development Authority (NTDA) high ranking officials in this vitriolic and unfounded campaign of brash calumny.

“To further aggravate a bad situation, under the advice of NTDA the so called CDA Chairman has proceeded to lock out our clients from accessing their property,” theynstated in the petition.

The family accused the CDA of conceiving the notion of appropriating the expanse of land belonging to the family.

However, the Chairman of the CDA, Oyebode Ojomu, in a letter written dated 7th January 2020, and addressed to the Chairman of the House Committee on Land Matters, apologised that the CDA would not be represented at the meeting called by the committee, stating that all they needed to say on the land tussle had already been expressed at the last meeting.

“We have averred that we do not know the petitioners in law since our Mandate is limited to Gateway Zone Estate in which the principals of the petitioner has no ‘locus standi’ and we as a community arebnot inclined to join any issues with the petitioner for whatever reasons,” the CDA said in its letter to the committee.

Tunde Ogunmola
Tunde Ogunmolahttps://naijanewsdirect.com
'Tunde Ogunmola Executive Editor/CEO (OBAT CONNECTS CONCEPTS) Publishers of Naija News Direct) Tel: 08055102893, 08126439182 (WhatsApp) Email:babs.ogunmola@yahoo.com
RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Recent Comments