Kwara govt moves against senator, Emir of Ilorin, stops palace pavilion construction

Kwara govt moves against senator, Emir of Ilorin, stops palace pavilion construction 

 

Kwara State Town Planning and Development Authority has ordered the stoppage of an ongoing construction of the Sulu-Gambari Pavilion, a multi-million-naira project facilitated by the senator representing Kwara Central, Saliu Mustapha.

Government operatives, accompanied by security personnel, reportedly stormed the project site on Saturday and asked all the workers there to immediately stop work.

Newstrends learnt that the government’s project, facilitated by Senator Saliu Mustapha, was being handled by Global Legend Conglomerate Limited.

It was initiated to provide a permanent pavilion for the Ilorin Emirate Annual Durbar festival and other community events.

The pavilion project was said to have received the blessing of the Emir of Ilorin, Dr Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, given its importance to the Ilorin Emirate traditional institution.

The stop-work order, according to sources, is linked to lingering political differences between Governor AbdulRazaq and Senator Mustapha, whose relationship became sour after the 2023 general elections.

This has since reportedly escalated into open political confrontations between their supporters.

But the state government has responded through a statement by Abdulrazaq Yusuf, Press Secretary to the Kwara State Geographic Information Services (KWGIS).

It said no approval was sought or secured by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for the pavilion construction.

It quoted the KWGIS Executive Chairman, Abdulkareem Babatunde Sulyman, as saying on Saturday, “This is a basic thing. Where people or agency of government overlooks or neglects such basic requirements of physical development law, we have a duty to not just stop them but to also impose appropriate fines.

“The pavilion is an urban development project under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. It is a new construction. As such, appropriate approvals ought to be sought and secured before anything is done.

‘All government projects, local, state, and federal, get such approvals. This has not been done for the project.

“We have accordingly directed workers on site to do the appropriate thing before they resume work,” he stated.