Kwara state bureau of lands has said that there are records to show that the Saraki family made payment for a piece of land it occupied in Ilorin, Kwara state capital.

The state government recently took over the land, saying it was originally designated for the construction of a secretariat and the parking lot of the civil service clinic.

However, Bukola Saraki, former senate president, had refuted the claims saying the land was duly allocated and a right of occupancy was also issued on it.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ibrahim Salman, director-general of the bureau of lands, said there was no record to show that the Sarakis paid for the land.

“The entire land was acquired in the 1970s for Overriding Public Interest and same was initially designed to host the phase II of the State Secretariat. The construction of the said State Secretariat Phase II was actually commenced and it was at superstructure level before same was abandoned,” he said.

“The entire land was later redesigned in the 1980s for the construction of a Civil Service Clinic, State Secretariat, and a parking lot for both the Clinic and the State Secretariat.

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“The Clinic was subsequently constructed in 1982, while the remaining plots of land were conceived for the expansion of the Clinic into a full-fledged Hospital.

“The dream of the State Government was stalled when part of the land slated for the parking lot was spuriously allocated in principle to one Asa Investment for commercial purpose.

“From available records, the allocation was not based on a formal application, nor application forms filled; there was no evidence of payment for the said allocation as stipulated in the letter of allocation in principle and consequently, no right of occupancy was ever issued to the Company.

“Furthermore, in flagrant abuse of the allocation terms, the company took possession of the land and constructed what is today known as “Ile Arugbo” on part of the land that was designed as parking lot and later conceived to host the expansion of the Civil Service Clinic into a full-fledged Hospital.”

He said the Kwara state house of assembly had mandated the government to revoke the allocation, and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of the state subsequently signed an instrument to reclaim the land on the grounds that it was unlawfully allocated.

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