De Renaissance Patriots, Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum drag Lagos govt to court over Dangote’s $100m

CITIZENS COMPASS—-De Renaissance Patriots and Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum have dragged Lagos State Government before the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, to be compelled to release information about whether or not Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s recent claim that he paid $100 million to it was true or false.

If the claim is true, it is required to give detailed account as to how such huge amount of money in hard currency was collected in exchange for the poor Ibeju-Lekki people’s land and why there was no public statement to the effect, and then to state which account the money was paid to and what it was used for.

This was contained in an originating motion, brought under 1. Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended; 2. Sections 1,3, 4, 7, 20 and 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and 3. Inherent jurisdiction of the Honourable Court in the matter of application by 1. De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and 2. Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum, who are the Applicants, joining 1. Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, 2. Attorney General of Lagos State, 3. Accountant General of Lagos State, 4. Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Lagos State and 5. Lagos State Government, who are the Respondents.

The motion, filed and registered by the court with Suit no FHC/L/CS/1603/2024 on at 1:20p.m on Friday September 6, 2024, is seeking the court for an Order of Mandamus to be issued against the respondents with a view to compelling the Lagos State Government to release the information required by the applicants.

Speaking shortly after the filing of the motion on Friday, lead counsel to the applicants, Barrister Yakubu Eleto Esq, said the entire livelihood of the people of Ibeju-Lekki were destroyed by the mere fact of the siting of the Dangote Refinery without any affected resident/host communities compensated.

He said, “Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), as sitting Governor in 2015, using a public address said that they brought Dangote to Ibeju-Lekki in good faith to assist governance, to assist the Lagos State economy, that they gave him the land for free and that he didn’t pay anything for it.”

He said that was what the Lagos State government at the time used to cajole the people until recently, nine years after that, Dangote cried out saying the land he used to build his refinery was not for free but that he paid $100 million for it.

Eleto said the people of the area have suffered neglect for the past nine years only for them to now hear from Dangote that he paid $100 million for the same land they were not compensated for, after taking, and “Out of the fact that they don’t have money, they pay a lot to give themselves energy and it is now sounded to their ears to hear that about $100 million was collected in exchange for their land and some individuals sit on that money. We want to know where that money is.”

The case, according to Eleto, was yet to be assigned to a judge being that it was filed on Friday (September 6, 2024) whereas cases in Federal High Court are assigned Tuesdays and Thursdays. “By Tuesday September 10 it is going to be assigned to a judge.”