Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara
State, in the early hours of Thursday, made good his threat by demolishing a house belonging to the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, father of former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in Ilorin.
With the demolition, the crisis between the Abdulrazaq and Saraki families has deepened.
The late Saraki was Senate Leader in the Second Republic.
Bukola Saraki was governor of the North-Central State between 2003 and 2011.
Officials of the State Government in the early hours of Thursday demolished the house.
The house, popularly called Ile Arugo (old people’s home), is located along the Ilofa Road in the Government Reserved Area (GRA) of Ilorin.
Some residents gathered at the site discussing the demolition.
A resident, who preferred anonymity, said he woke up to meet bulldozers carrying out the demolition.
The land on which the house was built became a subject of controversy in the last few days.
Men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had taken over the place in the last 48 hours to forestall a break down of law following Tuesday’s protest by some old women against the state government’s decision.
The building was a place where the late Saraki used to distribute foods, money and clothes to old women, a tradition that the former governor of the state inherited.
Abdulrazaq had on December 27, 2019, announced the revocation of the title of the land over alleged illegal possession.
The Chief Press Secretary, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, said in a statement that the title was revoked to build a new government secretariat that it was originally meant for.
According to him, the land was unlawfully allocated to a private firm without any record of payment to the state government.
“No certificate of occupancy was issued in favour of the firm,” he said.
But Bukola Saraki accused the governor of waging a war against him and his father.
He claimed that the said property was rightfully allocated to his late father in the name of one of his companies, Asa Investment Limited, since the 1980s and contrary to the claim of the governor, the land was properly allocated with a right of occupancy title issued on it.
