Demolition: APC chieftain sues el-Rufai for N500m damages

The North West Zonal Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, has served a fresh suit seeking N500 million as general damages from the Kaduna State Government, which allegedly demolished  his property.

Abdulkadir had withdrawn a different suit seeking to stop the demolition of his property so as to serve the notice which included his demand for the half a billion naira damages.

The earlier suit was to stop the Kaduna State Urban Development Agency (KASUPDA) and the Kaduna State Government from demolishing his property.

In the build up to the demolition, Abdulkadir had accused Governor Nasir el-Rufai of witch-hunt, saying he was being targeted over his stance on the crisis bedevilling the APC in Kaduna and the North West in general.

Counsel to Abdulkadir, Barrister Festus Okoye, explained that the earlier suit was withdrawn because‎ while a motion restraining KASUPDA from demolishing the said property was pending, the defendants mobilised bulldozers, mobile policemen and other security agencies to pull down the entire structure.

Okoye had pleaded for an adjournment of the case in view of the fact that the defendant had demolished the property, despite being aware of the pendency of the suit and the order seeking for injunctive relief.

“In the suit in court, our claim was just for N3 million and an injunction and order compelling them to carry out their statutory duty of using approval for the building plan,” he said.

“Based on the new reality, we have served KASUPDA with a new 30-day pre-action notice. In the notice, we are claiming N120 million in actual damages and N500 million in general damages.

“This is because we don’t want to be caught in the web of abuse of court process,” he said.

Justice Mohammed Tukur Aliyu of Kaduna High Court had earlier adjourned the case when it was mentioned on April 24, following Okoye’s motion for adjournment in order to appraise the case because of new developments.

The matter has been adjourned to May 22.