SHEKARAU ABSOLVES SELF OF LAND ALLOCATION ALLEGATION

By NBF News

Former Governor  of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has faulted the statement of his successor accusing him of active connivance in the allocation of the 27-hectres of land belonging to the Kano State Government, situated at Lokogoma District in Abuja to private individuals.

Shekarau further challenged the Governor of the state, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to name the beneficiaries of the illegal land allocation, noting that such a sensitive claim should be thoroughly substantiated before making it public.

Kwankwaso, while inspecting the demolition of  structures built on the reclaimed land, last Tuesday, had alleged that some 'unscrupulous individuals illegally took possession of the land through the active connivance with the past government officials.'

But in his reaction, Mallam Shekarau said he was fully aware of the Abuja land and that not a single plot was given out as allocation because his administration only intended to construct an estate as part of its contribution to the development of the Federal Capital Territory .

Shekarau, who spoke in a statement through his media aide, Mallam Sule Ya'u Sule, recalled that the land in question was initially allocated to the state government, through the state Housing Corporation but was later revoked during the administration of Senator Muhammadu Adamu Aliero as FCT minister.

He recalled the huge efforts made by his administration to reclaim the revoked plots, noting that on November 23, 2010, he formally wrote to the current FCT Minister, Senator Bala Muhammad, on the need to return the revoked plot to the state government.

Meanwhile, Governor Kwankwaso has stressed the need for citizens of the state to improve  on their personal and environmental hygiene, regretting that it is unfortunate that Nigeria still featured among the polio endemic countries in the world despite efforts made by the government and international donors to eradicate the disease.

Kwankwaso, who spoke at the flag - off of the 2011 4th Immunization Plus Days, IPDs at Yan Alewa in Kumbotso Local Government Area of the state lamented the fact that many diseases, which would have been avoided were caused by unhygienic practices.

He was particularly disturbed that polio virus was recently identified among children again in five local government areas in the state and emphasized on the need for the people to join hands with the state government to wipe out the disease.

Pleading further with the citizenry on immunization, Governor Kwankwaso maintained that 'scientific evidence has shown that the disease is not associated with gene or evil spirits and the polio vaccine is not administered with ulterior motives.