El-Rufai to compensate ‘genuine landowners’ in Kaduna

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, says the process of land recovery in the state has to take into consideration the need to conduct valuation on properties that have valid title.

Fielding questions at a radio town hall meeting organised by BBC media action in Kaduna, the governor said he will restore Government College and Rimi College as boarding schools.

According to Samuel Aruwan, el-Rufai’s spokesman, the governor directed that all the private property within Government College be valued for appropriate compensation can be paid to those with valid titles and planning approval.

“In addition to the compensation, the affected title owners will also be given replacement plots,” Aruwan said in a statement.

“Earlier on Friday, during a tour of Government College and its environs, the governor said that boarding facilities for students and quarters for school staff cannot co-exist with private dwellings.

“During the inspection, the governor also visited the premises of the government agencies that have been sited on the school land, including those occupying the former school hostels.

“The governor said that all government agencies will be relocated from the schools along with the private encroachers.

“The governor said that similar instructions have been given in respect of Rimi College, which used to be an iconic boarding school, but whose facilities have been encroached upon by private interests and public institutions.

“The governor said that formal notices to relocate, with deadlines, will be issued to all the government agencies, some of them federal, that are currently accommodated in school premises.

“Government agencies in Rimi College have already received their relocation notices. Their departure will enable the government prepare the school facilities to receive boarding students.”