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Why Bauchi Lawmaker’s House Was Demolished

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The reason the Bauchi State Government demolished the house of the lawmaker representing Bauchi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Yakubu Abdullahi, has been revealed.

Recall that the federal legislature had alleged that the state Governor, Bala Mohammed ordered the demolition of his house for “political reasons.”

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the governor’s spokesman, Mukhtar Gidado, said the building located at No. 7, Buba Yero Road, Old GRA area of the state was pulled for three reasons.

Gidado stated that the house was being used by criminals as a hideout to terrorise residents of the area and the sale of the property did not follow due process.

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He stated that the governor did not approve the sale of the house which was an existing policy of the state government, hence the demolition of the property.

The governor’s spokesman also revealed that the said house was allocated to the State House of Assembly to serve as a guest house on 23rd June 2014.

In spite of the exemption of houses along Buba Yero Road, from the Owner-Occupier Policy of the State Government, the then Commissioner for Works, Land and Housing under the past immediate administration, Abubakar Tatari-Ali, allocated the house to himself.

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“The house was later sold to Yakubu Abdullahi at the cost of N9m. Despite violating the government policy exempting the house from the owner-occupier scheme, there was no record either in the treasury or Ministry of Housing to show that the amount was paid into government coffers.

“Not only that, the whole process of the purported sale of the house did not follow due process because the value of the house was not assessed by relevant government agencies and approval of the State Chief Executive was not obtained,” he said.

Gidado said that following the purported sale of the house to the lawmaker, the state House of Assembly wrote to inform the government on 28th October 2019 about the development since the house had earlier been allocated to them to serve as a guest house.

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He added: “The state judiciary had also, on 17th February 2021, written to inform the government that the house was being used as a hideout by criminal elements. These criminal elements have been terrorising residents of the neighbouring houses.

“Upon receipt of the reports of the State House of the Assembly and the judiciary, the government directed its relevant agencies to investigate the matter and, in the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Hon. Yakubu Abdullahi had demolished the main building and had commenced the construction of a new structure at the site.

“A Notice of Revocation was served on Hon. Yakubu Abdullahi on 21st and 23rd September 2021 in respect of the Certificate of Occupancy fraudulently granting him ownership of the property by the then commissioner of Works, Land and Housing, Abubakar Tatari Ali.

“The revocation notice was duly acknowledged, and in spite of this, Abdullahi continued with the construction work on the site, adding that, consequently, the State Development Board marked the building for “Stop Work Order” on 27th September 2021 which he did not comply with.

“A team of state government officials led by the Secretary to the State Government went to the site on 29th September 2021 to confirm the development and, “upon reaching the site, the team confirmed the construction work and was confronted by one Ibrahim Ago who threatened fire and brimstone, insulted and threatened the officials.”