Niger Lands commissioner in trouble over indiscriminate allocation of Suleja land

By Saka Bolaji, Minna

The Niger state House of Assembly has summoned the Commissioner of Lands and Housing, Honorable Haliru Jikantoro to explain the reason why plots of lands in Suleja were allocated indiscriminately under dubious and questionable circumstances.

According to the Minority Leader, Honorable Shuaibu Iya who raised observation during the House Plenary session on Friday, the commissioner was allocating lands in Suleja without due regard of existing laws, rules and regulations.

Iya noted that the letters of allocation issued by the Ministry of Land and Housing do not have reference numbers and was without the name and address of the recipient, stating that there was no official records of such documents in the ministry by implication.

The lawmaker who is representing Suleja Constituency that while letter of allocation of land should state certain fees to be paid into the state government Treasury Single Account, the purported letter of allocation being issued by the ministry directed the beneficiaries to pay through a certified bank draft in favor of the Ministry of Lands and Housing.

Iya stated: “There is just one treasury single account where every naira income from Ministries, departments and agencies are deposited. The idea of using a Certified Bank draft in favor of Ministry of Lands and Housing is against the principle of transparency and accountability. This, in short, is an act of corruption which must be investigated.”

He stated that if appropriate measures are not taken, the repercussion may affect the laudable programmes, policies and plan of the government.

The Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Honorable Ahmed Marafa directed the clerk of the Assembly to invite the Commissioner to respond to the allegations.