Dangote’s $100m land deal: Judge, AG absence stalls court hearing

Dangote’s $100m land deal: Judge, AG absence stalls court hearing

The Freedom of Information suit filed by De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and the Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum in Lagos, which was scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, was stalled due to the absence of the presiding judge, Justice Ayoola Olayinka Faji, as well as the absence of the Lagos State Government, the Attorney General, and other defendants.

The applicants arrived at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, early in the day, but as time passed, they were informed that Justice Faji would not be sitting. None of the defendants appeared in court either.

As it became apparent that the court would not sit, the plaintiffs, natives of Lagos State, began singing solidarity songs on the court premises.

Speaking on the development, counsel to the applicants, Yakubu Eleto, said: “The judge did not sit. Our people were in court, and as you can see, the absence of the judge, Lagos State Government, the state’s Attorney General, and other defendants frustrated the hearing of the $100 million Dangote land deal case today at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi.”

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Eleto added, “While it is understandable that the judge has the discretion not to come to court, the defendants—who are being requested to provide information about how they spent the $100 million paid to them by Dangote for 7,000 acres of Ibeju-Lekki land used to build the Dangote Refinery—failed to appear.”

Despite this, representatives of the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and the Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum, who are the applicants in the case, were present in court.

The plaintiffs had previously taken the Lagos State Government and three other defendants, including the Attorney General, to court, seeking to compel them to release information regarding whether or not Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s claim that he paid $100 million for the land was true.

The applicants are also demanding a detailed account of how the money was used, which account it was paid into, and why no public statement has been made regarding the transaction involving land belonging to the Ibeju-Lekki natives.

Respondents in the suit include Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Attorney General of Lagos State, the Accountant General of Lagos State, the Permanent Secretary of the Lands Bureau, and the Lagos State Government.

 

Dangote’s $100m land deal: Judge, AG absence stalls court hearing