Judge, AG absence stalls court sitting on Dangote’s $100m Lekki  Land deal

The Freedom of Information suit by De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum, Lagos, scheduled for Tuesday, was stalled following the absence of the judge, Lagos State Government, Attorney General and the other two defendants. The applicants, arrived the court early in the day and as the day dragged, they were told that the trial judge, Justice Ayoola Olayinka Faji, did not sit and the defendants did not showed up. When it became clear that the court was not going to sit, the plaintiffs, natives of the state, who were seen in the court premises started singing solidarity songs.

Speaking on the development, counsel to the applicants, Yakubu Eleto, said: “The judge did not sit. Our people were in court and, as you can see, the absence of judge, Lagos State government, the state’s Attorney General and other defendants frustrated hearing of the $100 million Dangote’s land deal money today at a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos. “Why it is understandable that the judge has a discretion of not to come to court, the defendants, who are being requested to tell the public about how they spent the $100 million paid to them by Dangote over the 7,000 acres land of Ibeju-Lekki natives used to build the Dangote Refinery, failed to come to court. However, De Renaissance and Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum representatives, who are the applicants, were present in court,” he said.

It will be recalled that De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum had dragged the Lagos State Government and three other defendants, including the Attorney-General before the court, seeking to be compelled to release information about whether or not Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s claim that he paid them $100 million was true or false. According to them, if the claim was true, the state government was required to give detailed account as to how such huge amount in hard currency was collected in exchange for the poor Ibeju-Lekki people’s land and why there was no public statement to the effect, and also disclose to which account the money was paid and what it was used for.

Respondents in the sui are Governor Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, Attorney General of Lagos State, Accountant General of Lagos State, Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Laos State and Lagos State Government.