Ile Arugbo: Inside Saraki’s demolished charity home
Ile Arugbo was one of the most popular houses of the late Abubakar Olushola Saraki. It was known to be the late sage’s constituency office and charity home, where the aged and other beneficiaries of Oloye’s gesture usually met. It was also the place where the aged converged to receive food items, financial support and health care services, sponsored by the late politician and philanthropist.
The tradition remained unbroken years after Baba’s demise as it has been sustained by his son, former Senate President Bukola Saraki. The property was also used as an event venue for programmes of Baba Oloye, his family and political events.
With the defeat of former Senate President Saraki in the last general elections, political observers in the state predicted trouble ahead for the Sarakis since the winner of the governorship election is not in alliance with them and all the political seats in the state House of Assembly were lost to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Trouble started when the Kwara State House of Assembly, during one of their sittings, resolved that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq should recover the land housing Ile Arugbo, siatuated along Iloffa road by Civil Service Clinic, Ilorin, “in the overall interest of the public.’’
This followed the consideration of a report titled, “Illegal Acquisition, Appropriation and Conversion of Government Property with survey No. KWG.927 And LAN/G. 1071, situated at Iloffa Road by Civil Service Clinic, GRA Ilorin, by a private individual.” The report was presented by the chairman of the committee set up by the House, Hon Felix Awodiji.
The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Salihu Danladi, an engineer, while reading the resolutions of the House, explained that there was the need to ensure that the land was used for the purpose for which it was originally meant.
The House also unanimously called on the state governor to declare the allocation of the property to Asa Investment Limited void for non compliance with due process.
Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee had observed, among other things, that the Ile Arugbo, which was mentioned in the petition, was in the middle of the plan submitted by the Bureau of Land, and SurveyorGeneral’s Office, stating that the allocation of the land to Asa Investment Limited was done by executive fiat as there is no evidence of payment and no title regarding the land.
Following the order of the Assembly, the state government claimed the land housing the charity home and said it would be used for the construction of a new state secretariat complex initially planned for it.
According to a statement by the media aide to the governor, Mallam Abdulrafiu Ajakaye, “The ownership of the land bordering the Civil Service Clinic has officially been reverted to the Kwara State Government; a new secretariat complex will now be erected on the land.’’
Ajakaye said the land was originally meant for government secretariat and parking space of the Civil Service Clinic, but it was unlawfully allocated to a private firm, Asa Investments Limited without any record of payment to the state government.
According tom him, “no certificate of occupancy was ever issued in favour of the firm, and government had bought the land to house the Civil Service Clinic, its parking space and a secretariat.’’
The statement revealed that the government had made provisions for the secretariat in the 2020 budget, although its construction will spill over to 2021.
Governor AbdulRazaq has signed a constitutional instrument withdrawing the allocation of plots of land 1, 3 and 5 to the firm, asserting that the said land was unlawfully appropriated, contrary to the purpose for which it was meant.
The issue became controversial when the former Senate President personally issued a statement over the revocation, saying the Kwara State Governor had crossed the line of decency with his recent efforts to erase the legacies of his late father.
It is believed in some quarters that the governor’s action is a form of vengeance against Saraki to settle an agelong political squabble between both families, which started with their parents and passed unto their children.
Other political observers also said it’s a payback time for the former governor of the state as he also revoked a property belonging to the incubent governor’s parents during his tenure.
Reacting to the claim by the Sarakis, the Kwara State Bureau of Lands revealed further details surrounding the controversial Civil Service Clinic land and its adjourning plots, amidst public enquiry.
“The entire land was acquired in the 1970s for overriding public interest. It was initially designed to host the phase II of the state secretariat. The construction of the said state secretariat phase II was actually commenced and it was at superstructure level before it was abandoned,” the director-general of the Bureau of Land, Ibrahim Salman said in a statement.
All pleas and alarm raised by the Sarakis and their supporters didn’t stop the state government from going ahead to carry out its plan on the property as it was finally pulled down at the early hours of Thursdays. On Wednesday, armed policemen were deployed to man the large expanse of land as early as 6:00 am.
It was further gathered that the presence of the armed policemen in the area might be to prevent the aged women who usually thronged the “charity home” at the end of every month from gaining entrance into the facility.
Reacting to the development, the spokesman for the state police command, Ajayi Okasanmi, said that deployment of the security men to the area was for security purpose.
He said, “It is important to forestall breakdown of law and order in the state following perceived media war trailing the issue and various reactions from politicians on the matter.”
The action of the state government, according to the Commissioner for Communications, Alhaji Murtala Olanrewaju, began in the early hours of Thursday to avoid any “needless confrontation.”
But Saraki’s supporters said that despite the fact that a suit on the property in question had been filed in the Kwara State High Court by the Asa Investments Limited, challenging the revocation of the land, the state government still went ahead to demolish “the charity home.”
According to sources who spoke to Daily Trust Saturday, the demolition of the structure was to avoid any court injunction that may restrain the government from taking over the property.
Supporters and loyalists of the Saraki dynasty were seen around the demolished structure, chanting solidarity songs and praising their political leader.
The chairman of the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Shittu, an engineer, and members of the party’s executive, were on hand to inspect the damage done to the building.
Shittu condemned the action of the state government, noting that they should have waited since the matter is already in court.
He, however, appealed to Saraki’s supporters to remain calm and refrain from any act of violence. He assured them that the law would take its course on the matter.
Similarly, the Minister of State for Transport and daughter of the late politician, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, in a statement by her special assistant on media, Titilope Anifowose said, “We have a history and we are proud of that history.”
According to the statement, in solidarity with her family against the action of the Kwara State Government, the minister renamed her movement as “GRS-Oloye.
In his reaction via a tweet, the former Senate President stated, “Following the development this morning in Ile Arugbo, I want to commend the women and men, old and young, who displayed their affection, love and staunch support for my late father and the family. I appreciate the genuine support of the women and youths who stood firmly in the face of aggression and naked show of force.”
A civil society activist in the state, Mr Musa Aliyu, in his reaction to the demolition said, “Obviously, two wrongs can never make a right.”