TheCable

The Kano government says the premises housing the office of Nuraini Jimoh, a lawyer, was sealed off because the “ground rent” of the structure has not been paid. 

On Wednesday, officials of the bureau for land management sealed off the building at Murtala Muhammad Way in Kano.

Jimoh, a lawyer to an APC faction said to be loyal to Ibrahim Shekarau, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano, had on Tuesday secured a court victory against party supporters who have reportedly pitched their tent with Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano.

Factions said to be loyal to Shekerau, a former governor of Kano, and Ganduje have been at loggerheads over political leadership in the state.

The court, in its ruling on Tuesday, validated the executives elected at the APC congress conducted by the Shekarau faction in Kano.

Subsequently, there were reports that the decision of the government to seal off the building is a result of the court judgment.

But in a statement issued on Thursday, Muhammad Garba, Kano commissioner for information, said the sealing off of the office premises is because the owner of the structure owes the state ground rent.

“Kano state government has said that the Task Force Committee on Land Use Charges sealing of a one-storey building along Murtala Muhammad Way which accommodated many offices including the chamber of a lawyer who won a case against the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the conduct of its ward congresses was but a mere coincidence,” the statement reads.

“Contrary to the media report, particularly online platforms, there was no any link whatsoever between the sealing of the office and outcome of the court ruling.

“Officials of the Task Force Committee on Land Use Charges of the state Bureau for Land Management working in conjunction with the state Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) were on their routine assignment of enforcing payment of land use charges as part of effort to enhance the state revenue generation drive.

“According available record at the bureau, the property at C14/C16 Murtala Muhammad Way belongs to Isyaka Rabi’u & Sons not the said lawyer, Barr. Nureini Jimoh and it was sealed by the committee after it issued a demand notice to the owner on September 14, 2021 and later a warning notice after failing to respond to the demand for the payment of outstanding ground rent for a period of five years (2016-2021).

“During its operation, the committee had sealed seven other defaulting properties on December 1, 2021 on same Murtala Muhammad Way as well as in other part of the state that included those along Zoo Road, Zaria Road and Ibrahim Taiwo Road.

“As far as the matter is concerned, the committee or the bureau only deals with the property owner not the tenant renting it.”