Imo State Commissioner for Lands Survey and Physical Planning, Barr. Enyinnaya Onuegbu, has stated in clear terms that advertorial placement of his Ministry on Plot 36, Institutional and Staff Quarters Layout as NECO Land, published on Trumpeta Newspaper dated 26th February was compelled by Imo State Government decision to restore the said Plot of land to NECO after they lost it through what he described as a questionable High Court Judgement filled with legal lacuna and misrepresentation .
Speaking exclusively to Newsalert at the state secretariat in Owerri, the Lands Commissioner said after government had paid compensation to the families years back and allocated the land to NECO with Certificate of Occupancy, the families resurfaced with a claim that is Ancestral Land, filed a suit without including NECO in the suit when they knew that the land was properly acquired from the community with compensation paid and Imo State Government had already allocated it to NECO to build their South East Regional Office.
Ruling out allegation of financial inducement from NECO to his office, he noted that the major interest is the South East Regional Office of NECO coming into Imo State and the state cannot afford to lose such a big project.
His words; "these families went to court sued state government with claims of One Billion Naira , but did not join NECO in their suit, when they already knew that the land has been allocated to NECO with Cof O. A plot of land in Institutional and Staff Quarters Layout is not up to 1billiin, you said you will abandon your claim for 1Billiion, which governor can pay such amount of money.?
By privileged of law, the govenor is the custodian of every land in Imo State, if he decides to pull down the state secretariat and use it for a school project for overriding public interest, he will do it, that is the intention of land use act.
How will NECO bribe me, when they have legitimate CofO from government . NECO is to build S/E Headquaters in Imo, that is the interest, we have such big projects with National Human Right Commission and NAFDAC, their South East offices are coming into Imo State.
When this matter came up NECO petitioned the Governor, he asked for a brief, Oguzie was Director of Lands when it happened. He is now Acting Permanent Secretary.
After the governor was properly briefed, he instructed that NECO should be restored to the land , we should go to court and set aside the consent judgement. For you to set aside consent judgement, you only need to establish two things, first; fraud, secondly; misrepresentation.
They sued a defendant, they said he has Cof O from Government, but failed to sue that defendant but their pleadings in that case revealed that there is somebody the land was given to by Imo State Government.
When govenor's directives came, I implemented it and said Plot N0:36 Institutional and Staff Quarters belongs to NECO by way of Government Allocation, caveat; buyers be warned"
According to him, "there was clear case of misrepresentation because Oguzie as a Director of Lands then cannot sign those documents without the knowledge and approval of the Commissioner for Lands, there was also misrepresentation because the land is lotted by government allocation. It was not in the nature, it was as natural inheritance, thirdly; the plaintiff knew that govt has given the land to a third party and didn't sue the third party".
Hon. Onuegbu, disclosed that when
NECO came to him with a letter, he advised that the letter should go to the governor for him to decide. He made it clear that he is basically acting on the instructions of the governor, not on any financial inducement from any quarter.
Explaining further; he disclosed that the said families made moves for out of court settlement, took the terms of settlement to court and court set it aside as consent judgement that they own the land by inheritance, when it is glaring that government had already acquired it, parcellated and paid compensation. He also hinted that they carried the judgement and sold the land to somebody who paid them well.
The Commissioner for Lands Survey and Physical Planning, disclosed that after the consent judgement, they went to court, filed rift of possession, court endorsed it, they moved further to Attorney General's office, he consented that they should posses the land based on consent judgement, they went and repossessed the land, from available reports some things NECO built was destroyed.
Commissioner Onuegbu questioned; "where does family land in it's ancestral status bear plot number, which people have ancestral land in such area already parcellated as staff quarters and Institutional quarters"?
Reacting to an earlier action by Special Adviser on Land Recovery Mr Paschal Nwakanma, known as Dundum, on the said land, he hinted that somebody introduced them to him, he allegedly used commando manner to force NECO back into the land which provoked a reaction,, but as for him as a lawyer, he does not operate in a commando manner.
On reports that the period for Appeal has elapsed, he said there is always a window for appeal, maintaining that a matter can be revisited when it became crystal clear that there is a fraud in the judgement or misrepresentation.
Recall that the families of Mr Alex Opara, Jude Osuji, Anthony Uroegbulam, Esq. and John Oparaugo, represented their families in a suit filed against Imo State Govenor, the commissioner for Lands, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, in Suit Number HOW/1219/2019 over the trespass of their family land at P-36 Institutional Layout and Staff Quarters, they got a judgement in a case presided by Justice K. A Leweanya.