Noah Ebije, Kaduna and Layi Olanrewaj

Chairman, Northern Elders Council, (NEC), Alhaji Tanko Yakassai has condemned the  demolition of the house of the father of the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Ile Arugbo, in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, describing it as  a political vengeance against Saraki.

Yakassai, an elder statesman, told newsmen in Kaduna that government should rather concentrate on providing employment  and eradication of poverty rather than waste resources in carrying out demolition of houses for political reasons.

Kwara Government recently moved its heavy-duty equipment and demolished structures on a land belonging to the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki .

This followed  the revocation of plots of land on Ilofa Road, GRA, Ilorin, said to be the property of the late Dr. Olusola Saraki.

Before the demolition,   it was announced  that the parcels of land were  allegedly acquired by the late godfather of Kwara State politics, Dr. Olusola Saraki.

But for the former Senate President, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his kinsmen and loyalists, the decision of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was politically motivated.

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However, AbdulRazaq said his decision to revoke the said property followed a resolution of the House of Assembly that the  said land should be reclaimed.

Nevertheless, Yakassai maintained that, “I think this demolition exercise is a bad politics which is the beginning of tit-for-tat.

“I think this type of politics; politics of vengeance should not be seen in Kwara State and any other part of Nigeria.

“I hope that sanity will prevail because this is against political opponents. Government should concentrate on  addressing issues of poverty, unemployment and other problems in the country rather than wasting time and resources to demolish houses”.

Meanwhile, the state High Court, Ilorin presided over by Justice A. A Adebara, has fixed January 15 for hearing on motion on notice in a suit filed by Asa Investments Limited on the disputed land on which Ile Arugbo (Old People’s Home) was built.

Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, House of Assembly, Attorney General, Director General, Kwara Bureau of Lands and the Inspector General of Police are defendants in the suit.