The present Nigerian First Lady Patience Jonathan and former First Lady, Turai Yar'Adua might not be friends again after an Abuja High Court on Thursday May 2, 2013 declared a null and void revocation of a plot of land allocated to Turai Yar'Adua by the Federal Capital Territory.
The land was recently revoked from the former first lady and allocated to Dame Patience the current first lady by serving a notice of revocation to Turai Yar' Adua.
The noticed served to the former first lady has however been revoked by Judge Peter Affen, who ruled that taking the plot of land from the wife of the late president of Nigerian Umaru Yar'Adua by the Federal Capital Territory Administrative and giving it to Dame Patience Jonatan the wife of the current president does not serve any public interested.
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Judge Affen held that 'the revocation issued by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Sen. Bala Mohammed, was invalid, null and void' thereby the plaintiff, Turai had the right to the occuancey of the 1.84 hectares of land on plot no 1347 Cadastral Zone A00, Central Business District, Abuja, FCT remained valid and subsisting.
The judge also added that it was the personal dispute with the former first lady by Mrs. Jonathan, that led to the revocation of the land by the FCT. According to him ' The land belongs to WAYEF, a site for the building of the head office of the plaintiff's pet project and so the dispute does not amount to overriding public interest' he said.
The judge went further to say that the claim by the the Attorney-General of the Federation that the disputed land had earlier during the tenure of Turai's as the first lady for the building of the African First Lady Peace Mission was wrong.
Judge Affen said during the ruling that there was no evidence before him that said that the land had been initially granted for the office of the first lady. 'The minister did not rely on the alleged error while revoking the land but rather relied on the evidence of overriding public interest.
Affen in is ruling said that the land was allocated for that former first lady tobuild her pet project ' Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation. he said that the revocation of the land by the FCT minister, Sen. Bala Mohammed over what he (Mohammed) term overriding public interest by the former first lady, he then reallocated the land to present first lady, Dame Jonathan for the building of the African First Lady Peace Mission Headquarters on 2nd November, 2011.
'The action of the FCT administration is not tenable in law as it was done contrary to the rules and law, and thereby will not stand' he said.
Turai had claimed that the land in question was allocated to her in 2010, for her pet project but Dame Patience Jonathan took possesion of the land making her to get a court order to restrained the present first lady for trespassing on the land on March 5, 2012.
After the verdict was read yeaterday, the first lady reacted by saying she was not in a land tussle with the former first lady Turai Yar'Adua, has Nigerians are made to believe. She said this through a statement by her spokeperson, Ayo Osinlu.
According to Osinlu the land which had been a subject of litigation was between the Federal Capital Territory Administration and Hajia Turai Yar’Adua’s non-governmental organisation.
He said no one between, the African First Ladies Peace Mission, led by Mrs. Jonathan nor the President’s wife in her personal capacity was joined in the suit.
Osinlu said, "Our office had repeatedly stated that the land, which had been a subject of litigation, was between the FCT Administration and Hajia Turai Yar’adua’s NGO, and neither the African First Ladies Peace Mission, even though it is the original allottee of the land, nor Dame Patience Jonathan, who is the sitting President of the continental body, was joined in the suit.
"For purposes of emphasis, we wish to reiterate that, the land in question was first allocated to the African First Ladies Peace Mission, according to records available to us, during the tenure of Hajia Turai Yar’Adua as President of the Mission.
"If in leaving office she had decided to depart with the land, the FCT has taken appropriate logical action to retrieve the said plot for the original allottee and purpose.
"To this extent, we wish to state categorically that the judgment referred to in the media was not against the person of Dame Patience Jonathan, and we will like the public and well-meaning Nigerians to put the matter in its proper perspective for the purpose of accurate record and common good."
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