TheCable

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, has suspended G.A. Kurfi, interim chairman of Kaduna north local government, for allegedly flouting the rules guiding land recovery in the state.

According to Samuel Aruwan, the governor’s spokesman, the suspension, which took effect from Thursday, will remain until investigations are concluded.

“The Kaduna state government has announced the suspension of the interim committee chairman of Kaduna north local government council,” read a statement issued by Aruwan.

“This action is taken to enable the government thoroughly investigate the circumstances around the involvement of the suspended chairman in unauthorised activities in the land recovery process.

“When the government decided to recover lands belonging to schools, hospitals and other public institutions, it set out clear guidelines which were issued to all relevant agencies and the general public.

“These guidelines made mandatory the written approval of the governor before any action for land recovery is initiated, aside from clearly stating that local government councils have no role in the land recovery process beyond gathering and forwarding information to the appropriate agencies.

“Recent actions undertaken within Kaduna north local government council under the direction of the interim chairman did not comply with the guidelines for the land recovery exercise. There has to be accountability in the face of such severe breaches of official guidelines.

“Therefore, the state government has directed the immediate suspension of the interim chairman. investigations will be conducted to establish the full extent of culpability of Kaduna north local government officials in the matter.”