The forum of former members of the Kwara State House of Assembly, under the banner of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the report of the House of Assembly on the revocation of a landed property with survey No: KWG 927 and LAN/G. 1071 situated at Ilofa Road, by Civil Service Clinic, GRA., Ilorin otherwise known as Ile-Arugbo.
The forum made its position known in a statement signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Hon. Abraham Ashaolu and Hon. Isiaka Mogaji respectively.
The ex-lawmakers said a close perusal of the report of the House Committee on Lands, Housing and Urban Development which was shared on social media for public consumption revealed that, the House did not follow due process in arriving at its conclusion.
They described the House Report as a ruse, stratagem and wile.
They noted that the petitioner, one Akewusola Oba did not appear before the Committee to substantiate his allegations, stressing that, in law, one who alleges has the onus to prove.
Therefore, the former parliamentarians noted, the claim of the House not to get the petitioner on phone before hastily jumping into conclusion on a very sensitive matter like this falls short of a minimum standard of a House of Assembly.
“More so, the Rule of the House under Petition, particularly Rule 38(5d), page 25 of the House Rule, states thus:
“Signatures or marks will not be counted unless, in the case of signatures, they are in the handwriting of the person signing and in the case of marks, they are witnessed and unless in both cases they are followed by the addresses of the persons signing or making a mark…..”
It said “the underline factor in this case is that the House again failed to trace the address of the petitioner as required by the Rule, but rather looking for non-existent phone number”, they added.
The former legislators explained that on the other claim of the House not to get the respondent, Asa Investment Ltd to defend itself on account that the Company has no specific contact number/address on the documents presented by concerned government agencies was a big lacuna in the Report.
“For sensitive matter of this nature, the House ought to have invited the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to get the details of the owners of the Company, which ordinarily would have contained the residential addresses, operational office addresses of the Company and perhaps their phone numbers”. This is another fundamental omission on the part of the House.
“The CAC was established by Section 1 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C.20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (CAMA). The CAC is a regulatory body, established to regulate the incorporation, running and winding up of companies, business names and incorporated trustees in accordance with CAMA.
“Similarly, the House also failed to make public announcement both in the print and electronic media requesting owners of Asa Investment Ltd and the petitioner, Akewusola M. Oba to show up for interaction with the House Committee, so that, they will not run fowl of the fundamental rights of the respondent, especially section 36 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended. This, the House failed to do.
“In addition to the above mentioned omissions, the House also failed to carry out physical visit to the site in order to properly ascertain the particular plots of land. This makes the House to become ‘whistle blower’ agency.
“Based on our vast experience as former members of the House of assembly, such report which lacks all the characteristics of a good report needed to have been given second thought, except the House is acting on a script which cannot withstand the test of time”, they added.
They therefore urged the members of the 9th Assembly to always bear in mind that their sojourn in the House is temporal, but the records and their legislative actions will outlive them, as the act of impunity will definitely not lead them to anywhere.
