A Kano State High Court has ordered the Kano State Government to pay a fine of N8.5 billion in damages to Lamash Properties Limited over the demolition of its buildings by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The court also gave an order for the defendants, consisting of the Kano State Government, Governor Abba Kabir and the state Attorney General to pay an additional N10,000,000 as the cost of filing the case.
The buildings, which were brought down on the order of the governor in June 2023, were the subject matter of a lawsuit filed by Lamash Properties which claimed that the destruction caused by the governor was unwarranted.
In an originating summons filed before a Kano State high court presided over by Justice Sunusi Ma’aji, the plaintiff said it obtained the property legally via an agreement with the state government under the administration of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
Lamash, through its counsel, Nureini Jimoh, SAN, sought a declaration that the agreement signed with the Kano State Government to develop the site for some profitable purposes was valid, subsisting and enforceable when Governor Yusuf decided to demolish the site.
The defendants, represented by Ibrahim Wangida and Bashir Muhammad, had filed a Memorandum of Conditional Appearance in the matter, according to court records.
While delivering his judgement on Wednesday, Justice Ma’aji granted the reliefs sought by the plaintiff, agreeing that the plaintiff had an enforceable contract.
He faulted the demolition and ordered that since the building could not be restored, its present monetary value should be paid to the plaintiff.
Reacting, Wangida however said that he had actually filed more than a Memorandum of Conditional Appearance.
“We filed a preliminary objection and a date was given for us to move our motion but the judge did not sit on the appointed date.
“Now, when the court fixed another date, a Hearing Notice was not served on us. It was neither served on me nor on Bashir Mohammed at our respective offices. They are claiming to have served it on Abdulkarim Maude, at No 63, Lamido Road.
“First, Maude has never been part of the case, and secondly, he said he was not even aware of the said service at his office. That is very strange.”
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Wandiga said because they were not served with a Hearing Notice, they were not aware of the date and were not in court.
According to him, the plaintiff applied for “our Preliminary Objection to be dismissed and the court obliged. They also moved their own motion.
“And today, we were in court to apply that the last sitting of the court be set aside, but the judge insisted he was in court to deliver his judgement.”
He said they had already filed a motion, praying the court to set aside the judgement.
Daily Trust reported that in September 2023, a Federal High Court sitting in Kano slammed a N30 billion in damages on the government for the demolition of structures at Kofar Mata Eid Ground.
This followed a demolition exercise carried out on Saturday, June 3, 2023, a few days after the Governor was sworn in where he personally led a demolition team to bring down structures he believed were illegally erected on government lands.
While some people hailed his intention to ‘sanitise the system’, others criticized the development.
