Loses choice land in Abuja Petitions ICPC
Still contesting his removal as
President of the Court of Appeal, another major challenge is now before Justice
Isa Ayo Salami. This time, it is about the alleged transfer to someone else, of
a piece of land previously allocated to him by the Ministry of the Federal
Capital Territory( FCT). The land, located within the Dakiyu District, also
referred to as Cadastral Zone B10 of the FCT, originally bore the name Justice
Isa Ayo Salami, KW (Kwara State). The document, however, now reads Justice Isah
Ayo Salami, Niger State. The original picture of the Jurist has also been
removed from FILE NUMBER: KW 1324 and replaced with that of his bogus
‘namesake’.
The Federal Capital Territory ministry had in a letter dated 24/7/1998
titled OFFER OF TERMS OF GRANT/CONVEYANCE OF APPROVAL conveyed the then ‘
Minister’s approval of a Grant of Right of Occupancy in respect of a plot of
1,940m2 (Plot No.577) to Justice Salami whose address was given as Court of
Appeal, Abuja. The reference number of the letter was MFCT/LA/KW 1324.Again in a letter dated 05/23/05, the ministry had acknowledged receipt of the Jurist’s application for re-certification and re-issuance of Certificate of Occupancy on the land.
There are indications, however,
that the re-certification and re-issuance of the C- of-O application
submitted by the jurist was replaced with that of the bogus ‘Justice Isah Ayo
Salami’ as indicated in another form dated 29-04-05 where ‘h’ was added to the
first name and the address changed from Court of Appeal to Ex-Wachinbe Nupe’s
House, Federal Medical Centre Road, Bida, P.O. Box 821, Bida, Niger State. The
State of origin was also changed from Kwara to Niger while the date of birth
remains 17/01/47, the real date of birth of the former President of the
Appellate Court.When Saturday Newswatch called the man in Bida on phone and
asked if he was Justice Salami, he jokingly said he was too old to go back to
school to read law and become a Justice. He, however, provided some insights
into how he came about the land when he was prodded on the issue.
The man, who said he was a
retired civil servant, gave his real name as S.M. Bello. He claimed that he
bought the land from one Musa Paiko, allegedly an agent of Justice Isa
Ayo Salami. He added that he had resold the same land to a naval officer whose
name he declined to disclose. Asked to give the contact address of Musa
Paiko, S.M. Bello said this could be obtained at the FCT’s Land Registry,
officially called Abuja Geographic Information Systems(AGIS). A source close to
Salami, however, disputed the suggestion that the Jurist sold the land,
pointing out that he had instructed his lawyers to file a petition at the
Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offences Commission (ICPC), to reclaim
his land. According to him, “It was indeed only recently that the attention of
the Jurist was drawn to the issuance of the C-of-O in a newspaper advert, and
when he sent someone to collect the document, he was told it had been delivered
to his Bida residence. The Jurist was reportedly dumbfounded, as everybody
knows he is from Kwara State, not Niger and has instructed his lawyers to file
a petition at the ICPC on the matter,” the source said.
Hajia Jamilah Tangaza, former
Senior Special Assistant on Information Management Systems to the FCT Minister
and the new head of AGIS was not on seat when Saturday Newswatch called at her
office yesterday. But a top official there who pleaded anonymity said, “ there
are many of such cases receiving the attention of our new boss.”
Source: MyDailyNewswatch
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