September 27, 2024
By Samuel Ogunsona
The Federal High Court in Lagos has scheduled a hearing for October 22, 2024, regarding a lawsuit filed by the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum against the Lagos State Government.
The case centers on Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s claim that he paid $100 million to the Lagos State Government for land.
The applicants seek clarification on the payment and demand that the government confirm whether Dangote’s assertion is true or false.
If verified, they request a detailed account of the transaction.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Attorney General, Accountant General, Permanent Secretary of the Lands Bureau, and the Lagos State Government are listed as defendants.
Lead counsel Barrister Yakubu Eleto Esq stated that the siting of the Dangote Refinery destroyed the livelihoods of Ibeju-Lekki residents without compensation.
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 mentioned that the state Governor cajole the people of Ibeju Lekki with the above statement citing that the Dangote’s business is to help the state economy.
Yakubu also said that Ibeju Lekki residents who are the host community has suffered from different damages from pollution to land degradation due to the establishment of the refinery.
He said the people of Ibeku Lekki did not get anything as compensation despite the allegation leveled against the state government of $100m land sold.
He said, “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.
“By Tuesday, September 10, it is going to be assigned to a judge,” he said.
