A report by Leadership Newspapers has it that Dame Patience Jonathan and her former boss, Hajiya Turai Umarus Yar’Adua are currently using proxies to engage themselves in a battle of wits over the ownership of a plot of land located at the Central Business DistrictAbuja.
According to the report, controversy over the land started after the FCT revoked ownership, which had been granted to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Women And Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF), sponsored by Hajiya Turai.
The land was then purportedly re-allocated to another organisation, African First Ladies Peace Centre, to which by the current first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is believed to be a sponsor.
The plot of land, beside the ThisDay Dome, was allocated to WAYEF on February 19, 2010 only for another document dated August 11, 2008 to surface from the FCT administration, indicating that the same plot had earlier been allocated to the African First Ladies Peace Centre.
Miffed by this perceived inside dealings, WAYEF filed a suit at an Abuja High Court challenging the action of the FCT administration, which has turned a blind eye to the ongoing construction. In a ruling delivered by Justice Peter Affen on March 5, 2012, the court issued an injunction ordering the FCT to restrain all parties from any further activities at the site.
Despite this court ruling, persons believed to be working for the African First Ladies Peace Centre have resumed work on the disputed land, forcing Turai’s lawyers to file contempt proceedings against the FCT Minister.
WAYEF, had not only tendered the requisite approvals in court , but receipts showing the payment of N166million of the statutory N184million in September 2011, to the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) for the right of occupancy. A balance of N18million was paid in November 2011.
However, despite the said payments, the FCT revoked WAYEF’s title to the property.
Although the August 2008 C of O issued to the African First Ladies Peace Centre had indicated that the land was to be used only for ‘‘public institution,’’ the centre is not listed in any official document as an agency, department or parastatal of the federal government.
A letter of revocation dated, November 2, 2011 and signed by Mrs Asma’u Mukhtar on behalf of the FCT Ministerindicated that the title was revoked “due to an overriding public interest.”