The Kwara State Government has taken over a piece of land being used by the Saraki family in Ilorin.

Chief Press Secretary to Kwara Governor, Rafiu Ajakaiye, said in a statement on Friday that a new secretariat would be built on the land.

Mr Ajakaiye said the land was originally meant for Government Secretariat and parking space of the Civil Service Clinic, but was unlawfully allocated to a private firm, Asa Investments Limited, without any record of payment to the state government.

Part of the land sits in front of late Olusola Saraki’s residence.

According to the statement, no certificate of occupancy was issued in favour of the firm.

The statement explained that the government has now made provisions for the secretariat in the 2020 budget, although its construction will spill over to 2021.

“Hundreds of civil servants still operate from rented apartments at a huge cost to the government.

“The new secretariat, once completed in 2021, will definitely go a long way to end this unhealthy trend as well as provide a more conducive and decent working environment for government workers,” the statement said.

Ajakaiye added that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has signed a constitutional instrument withdrawing the allocation of plots of land 1, 3 and 5 to the firm.

He said that the said land was unlawfully appropriated contrary to the purpose for which it was meant.

The spokesman added that the governor’s decision followed a resolution of the State House of Assembly urging him to reclaim the land because it was arbitrarily taken over in the 1990s without any evidence of payment by the company, even though the land was meant for public use.

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