De Renaissance, a group representing the indigenous people of Lekki has dragged the Lagos State Government to court over a $100 million allegedly paid by Dangote Refinery to acquire a piece of land where the petrochemical plan was cited.
In the suit at the federal high court in Lagos, the group is praying the court to compel the state government to release information about whether or not Aliko Dangote paid the sum to the state government.
The magazine reported that Africa’s Richest Man and the promoter of the Refinery claimed last month that he paid the state government $100 million to acquire the huge expanse of land where he cited the refinery.
The revelation had raised serious controversy among not a few Nigerians who initially thought that the land was acquired free from the state government.
The De-Renaissance, in the suit, is now seeking from the state government a detailed account as to how such huge amount of money in hard currency was collected in exchange for the poor Ibeju-Lekki people’s land, and why the issue was kept away from the public until recently.
The account in which the money was paid should also be made public, the group told the court.
The request is contained in an originating motion, brought under 1. Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended; 2. Sections 1,3, 4, 7, 20 and 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and 3. Inherent jurisdiction of the Honourable Court in the matter of application by 1. De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and 2. Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum, who are the Applicants, joining 1. Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, 2. Attorney General of Lagos State, 3. Accountant General of Lagos State, 4. Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Lagos State and 5. Lagos State Government, who are the Respondents.
The motion, filed and registered by the court with Suit no FHC/L/CS/1603/2024 on at 1:20pm on Friday September 6, 2024, is seeking the court for an Order of Mandamus to be issued against the respondents with a view to compelling the Lagos State Government to release the information required by the applicants.
Speaking immediately after the filing of the motion at the weekend, lead counsel to the applicants, Barrister Yakubu Eleto Esq, said the entire livelihood of the people of Ibeju-Lekki were destroyed by the mere fact of the siting of the Dangote Refinery without any affected resident/host communities compensated.
He said, “Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), as sitting Governor in 2015, using a public address said that they brought Dangote to Ibeju-Lekki in good faith to assist governance, to assist the Lagos State economy, that they gave him the land for free and that he didn’t pay anything for it.”
He said that was what the Lagos State government at the time used to cajole the people until recently, nine years after that, Dangote cried out saying the land he used to build his refinery was not for free but that he paid $100 million for it.
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