Adamawa citizen, lawmaker trade words over land dispute

A resident of Adamawa State, Abubakar Garba Saidu, and a member of the House of Representatives, Muhammadu Inuwa Bassi, have engaged in verbal exchanges over land dispute.

Saidu is contending that the lawmaker claims he has the authentic documents to the disputed land in Jimeta, Adamawa State.

Bassi, who is the House of Representatives member representing Toungo, Ganye, Jada, and Mayo Belwa Federal Constituency at the National Assembly maintains his ownership of the land.

Saidu alleges that the lawmaker has frustrated all efforts towards finding an amicable resolution to the decade-long land dispute and is determined to pursue it to the highest court in the land. 

Saidu has provided details of the land dispute and revealed that he had purchased the land in question from Alhaji Bala Baba, who had also bought it from the ward head of the area, Alhaji Ahmadu Pullo.

Saidu explained that it was customary for Alhaji Bala Baba to seek the approval of the ward head whenever he sold any portion of the land. 

Saidu supported his claim with a memo from the Commissioner of Land and Survey Yola dated the 17th of October, 2022 regarding a request for authentication of grant of R of O No GS/12911 with reference No GS/MLS/LAN/28156/12 bearing Ann D. Tyler and signed by T.A. Dwana. 

The memo concluded that all three R of O’s provided by Saidu had no plot number in the GSYPI layout although he presented the same in court to receive a favourable judgment, which he has appealed. 

However, when confronted with the allegations, Bassi dismissed them as frivolous, prejudicial, and gross misrepresentation of the facts of the case. 

He stated that the layout in question is a government layout that was allocated to people. 

He recounted that a staff member of land and survey had allocated a portion of the land to his wife and had sold it in 2005. 

Bassi further explained that at the time, he was working with Governor Boni Haruna, and their cars were monetized, he received a car allowance of N4.5 million and used some of the funds to purchase plots of land for N350,000. 

He said he returned to the land four years later and found people digging which made him report to the Ministry of Land and Survey to demarcate his plot of land. 

Bassi also revealed that Saidu was not the only person affected by the issue as there was a magistrate who also bought it and sold it to one Igbo man.