A man, identified as AbdulRahman Shuaib on Thursday narrated his ordeal before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry on the sales of Kwara State Government assets sitting in Ilorin about how he was offered the Kwara State Government property on 7, Pariya Road in Kaduna by Harmony Holdings Limited (HHL) at the sum of N50m with mere sighting the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).
He also pleaded with the commission to slash the cost he bought the property from kwara state government, because he did same under duress, and that he later discovered he was cheated based on the price other government properties were sold in Kaduna
Testifying before the panel, Shuaib said he had been living in the three bedroom apartment with boys quarters since 1997 as a tenant until in 2014 when the then Group Executive Director of Harmony Holdings Limited, Adebayo Sanni approached him to buy the property.
When the lead counsel to the panel, Joseph Bamigboye (SAN) asked the witness about the nature of the title on the property, Shuaib said he was shown the certified true copy of its Certificate of Occupancy which served the purpose of his negotiation.
Shuaib, therefore, pleaded with the commission to order for the perfection of the title as well as looking at the possibility of reducing the price he paid for the property, saying he was unduly cheated and conceded to pay the amount under duress when compared to the amount the HHL sold other Kwara State Government properties in Kaduna.
The commission, therefore, summoned Professor Saka Nuhu, Alhaji Idris Ibrahim, Jamal Solomon, Taoheed Community in Ilorin and the Daudu Amule Ile-Egba, Shuaib Agboola Olarongbe to appear before it.
Chairman of the commission, Justice Olabanji Orilonishe directed the Secretary of the Commission, Alhaji Muhammad Baba Orire, to summon the affected persons in line with Section 8 of Commissions of Inquiry Law (No 4 of 2006) as a result of their failure to honour the commission’s invitation to appear before it on Thursday.
Former Group Executive Director, Harmony Holdings Limited Adebayo Sanni meanwhile had on Wednesday appeared before the Commission in respect of the state government’s 11 Catchment Road property he allegedly bought but eventually forfeited to the government through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The commission had also interrogated former Director-General Kwara State Bureau of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Segun Soewu on the management of N4.7bn SMEs fund under the last administration in the state.
Justice Olabanji Orilonishe however mandated Soewu to produce the list of all the beneficiaries, their addresses, the amount collected, the amount paid and the outstanding payment.
