Kogi House of Assembly has summoned a cement manufacturing firm, BUA Group over a 50,000-hectare land it acquired in 2012 (10 years ago) but is allegedly yet to pay for.
Gatekeepers News reports that the house issued the summon on Monday at a public hearing of one of its ad-hoc committees held in a hotel in Lokoja due to the recent fire incident at the Assembly complex.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Alfa Momoh-Rabiu read the summons following a presentation by the Acting Surveyor-General of the State, Salihu Mustapha.
Mustapha had said in his presentation, “We are having problems with the BUA Group over 50,000 hectares of land it acquired in 2012 and even obtained a certificate of occupancy (C of O) but has not paid a kobo for the land.
“We have written to the group several times but it has not responded to any of the letters.
“No compensation has been paid to the communities that own the expanse of land.’’
The Ad-hoc Committee’s Chairman, Umar Tenimu said it was an offence for BUA Group to hold the land for more than 10 years without paying for it.
Tenimu said the company should be summoned to “come and explain why it refused to pay for the land and why it refused to compensate the community involved”.
Mustapha added that if BUA Group refuses to pay for the land and compensate the community, the government shall revoke the certificate of occupancy.
According to NAN, a Corporate Communications Official of BUA, Sunday Ogieva said he could not comment on the issue when he was contacted.
Meanwhile, Kogi state is currently in a heated battle with Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) over the ownership of the Obajana Cement Plant.
