Court Rejects El-Rufai's Order to Take Ownership of Durbar Hotel Land from Abacha Family The High Court in Kaduna has refused to confi...
Court Rejects El-Rufai's Order to Take Ownership of Durbar Hotel Land from Abacha Family
The High Court in Kaduna has refused to confiscate the C of O of the Durbar Hotel owned by the family of the late General Sani Abacha and the outgoing governor of Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai.
In 2020, the Kaduna state government demolished the ruins of the hotel and revoked the land ownership certificate which led to a dispute between the government and the Abacha family.
The lawyer defending the Abacha family, Reuben Atabo, the Attorney General of Nigeria (SAN), filed a case against El-Rufai and three others at the Kaduna State High Court.
He accused the government of illegally demolishing the property and confiscating the C of O.
The judge of the court, Justice Hannatu Balogun ruled that Governor El-Rufai does not have the power to prohibit this huge land of Durbar to the family of the late Abacha who are the original owners.
After listening to both sides, counsel Balogun said that the Abacha family is the right one in the dispute, that El-Rufai has abused his power to gain power over this huge land.
If we don't forget that after El-Rufai's ousting of the Kaduna government in 2015, the Kaduna State Urban Development Authority demolished the ruins of the hotel building, after the government announced the seizure of the land.
For this reason, the Abacha family went to court to claim their land rights, which they alleged had been forced upon them.
The trial will continue on July 4