Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has revoked the Certificate of Occupancy of the Durbar Hotel said to belong to the family of the late military dictator, Sani Abacha.
The hotel, located along Muhammadu Buhari Way in Kaduna, the capital, has been under litigation between the Federal Government and the Abacha family since 2001.
El-Rufai said his administration revoked the hotel’s C-of-O because its management owed the state a ground rent of 19 years.
A high court in Kaduna had on January 21 restrained the governor and the Kaduna State Government from demolishing or taking over the hotel.
The presiding judge also adjourned the case till February 11, 2020.
However, a letter made available to journalists on Thursday, dated December 31, 2019, and addressed to Mohammed Abacha, one of late Abacha’s sons, revealed the revocation of the property’s occupancy certificate.
Mohammed said he received the letter on January 29, 2020, but was dispatched on January 24, 2020, after the demolition of the hotel had been carried out.
The revocation letter was jointly signed on January 3, 2020, by Governor El-Rufai and the Deed Registrar, Yusuf Muawiyah of the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS).
The Abacha family was also accused in the letter of violating “terms of grant; security and safety risk of the people of Kaduna State.”
