Former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso sues the current administration over a contentious land dispute, escalating political tensions in the state.
A land dispute in Kano State has escalated significantly as Garba Kwankwaso, the younger brother of former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, has taken legal action against current Governor Abba Yusuf.
According to court documents, additional respondents in the case are listed as follows: the state commissioner for Land and Physical Planning is named as the second defendant; Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KNUPDA) is identified as the third defendant; the Attorney General of Kano State appears as fourth defendants, while unknown persons are designated as fifth defendants.
The lawsuit requests a temporary court order to stop the governor and other defendants from taking any actions that might negatively affect their interests in the contested land.
The land under discussion, situated in Kwankwasiyya City, was originally assigned to WAECO Nigeria Limited during the tenure of Rabiu Kwankwaso’s administration.
Nonetheless, Abdullahi Ganduje, who succeeded him, canceled the allocation following a 2017 investigation by the Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission. The inquiry disclosed that WAECO was not legally established when the allocation occurred.
The Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission disclosed that the acronym “WAECO” stands for “Water and Agricultural Engineering Company Limited,” where it is alleged that the former governor and his brother served as directors.
Following the revocation, Mr. Ganduje moved Mallam Kato Square to a section of the land and restored the remaining hectares to their original owners, including the renowned Dantata family.
According to reports, the current governor of the state, Abba Yusuf, resisted pressure to revoke over 100 hectares of land and return it to WAECO NIGERIA LIMITED.
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After the governor purportedly refused, Garba Kwankwaso submitted an application to a Kano High Court. This was in accordance with Order 38 Rule 4(1), Order 39 Rule 1(2), and Order 45 Rule 14 of The Kano State High Court Rules, 2014. He requested the following orders:
1. AN ORDER OF INTERLOCUTORY INJUNCTION prohibiting the defendants/respondents, including their agents, privies, servants, representatives and/or contractors or anyone acting on their behalf or under their instructions from entering upon, marking boundaries of, partitioning property within constructing buildings on allocating any portion of land that could harm the interests of the Plaintiffs/Applicants concerning a parcel located along Western By-Pass at Kwankwasiyya 11 in Kano State. This area is specifically detailed in Survey Plan No. TP/KNUPDA/333 outlined in red as WAECO NIGERIA LIMITED and secured by Certificate of Occupancy No. LKN/COM/2013/84 (referred to hereafter as “The Subject Property”) until such time as there is a resolution for the main case brought forward by the Plaintiffs / Applicants 调umulator).
2. And any other orders that this Honourable Court considers appropriate given the circumstances of this case.
The application is backed by a nine-paragraph affidavit from Faith Job, a litigation secretary at the law firm of P.A. Attabor & Co., representing the Kwankwasos.
Justice Usman Na’abba granted the order on November 13 and postponed the case to November 27 for the hearing of the application for an interlocutory injunction.
