Abacha family appeals judgement dismissing suit to recover Abuja land

The family of the late Nigerian Head of State, Sani Abacha, has appealed a judgement that dismissed their lawsuit to reclaim a revoked piece of highly valued land belonging to the military leader in the Maitama District of Abuja.

The late dictator acquired the property on 25 June 1993 while serving as the Minister of Defence. He would become Nigeria’s Head of State five months later, in November 1993.

The Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA) revoked the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for the land in February 2006, eight years after Mr Abacha’s sudden death in November 1998 while serving as Head of State.

The family subsequently initiated a prolonged legal battle to reclaim the land but was unsuccessful.

On Monday, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the Abachas were too late to contest the revocation, as their suit filed in 2015 was deemed untimely. The suit was filed in May 2015, following the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of an earlier case they had brought.”

Displeased with Monday’s judgement, Mr Abacha’s widow, Maryam Abacha, and her eldest surviving son, Mohammed Abacha, who have been prosecuting the legal battle, filed a notice of appeal against the judgement on Tuesday.

PREMIUM TIMES saw a copy of the notice of appeal on Wednesday.

The respondents to the appeal are the FCT minister, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the Nigerian president, and Salamed Ventures Limited, who later acquired the property.

Through their lawyer, Reuben Atabo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the appellants filed 11 grounds of appeal.

They argued that the trial judge, Peter Lifu, erred in his judgement, causing a miscarriage of justice in his findings and conclusions.

The plaintiffs argued that the judge misapplied Section 39 of the Land Use Act, erroneously holding that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit, contrary to a Court of Appeal decision.

The appellants also maintained that Mr Lifu violated their rights to a fair hearing, as stipulated in section 36 of the Nigerian constitution, by determining their lack of locus standi without allowing them to address the issue in court.

They maintained that they, as widow and son of the late Mr Abacha, were qualified to initiate the action with or without letters of administration.

They also argued that the judge wrongly deemed their case statute-barred, overlooking exceptions to the Public Officers Protection Act.

The family also faulted the judge’s decision recognising Salamed Ventures Limited as a respondent who acquired the property during the pendency of the case in an affront to the judicial authority.

According to them, the judge ought to bear in mind that they filed their suit on 25 May 2015, shortly after the Court of Appeal decision on 15 May 2015.

Therefore, they urged the court to assume jurisdiction on the case and invoke the relevant law that permits it to hear the case on merit and issue appropriate orders like the court of first instance.

The appellants urged the Court of Appeal to overturn the Federal High Court judgement and restore the disputed land to them.

Back story

They alleged that the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) marked FCT/ABUKN 2478, covering their mansion at Plot 3119 and issued on 25 June 1993, was unlawfully revoked by the defendants.

The revocation occurred in February 2006 during the time of Nasir el-Rufai as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and almost eight years after the dictator’s demise.

In their suit, the family sought the return of the property at Osara Close in Maitama, Abuja and N500 million compensation for the alleged illegal revocation.

Those they sued as defendants in the suit were the FCT minister, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the Nigerian president, and Salamed Ventures Limited, who later acquired the property.

The late Mr Abacha, who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist from 1993 until he died in 1998, was a military dictator often remembered for the feverish kleptocracy and brutal human rights violations of his regime.

His family has instituted a series of legal battles to recover various assets, including the Maitama property, seized from them at home and abroad after his death.

Statement of claim

In the statement of claims they filed at the trial court, the Abacha family members said that the then Minister of FCT and would-be governor of Kaduna State, Mr El-Rufai, had instructed them to submit the C of O in their possession for re-certification.

They claimed that Mohammed Sani Abacha, the second plaintiff, promptly complied with the directive by delivering the C of O to the FCDA, and an acknowledgement copy was issued to him.

While waiting for a new C of O to be issued to them, Mohammed Abacha said he received a letter on 3 February 2006 notifying them that the C of O had been revoked without any reason adduced in the letter.

Besides failing to give any reason for the revocation, the government Abacha family alleged that adequate compensation was not paid as required by law.

The family, through their lawyer, said the C of O issued to the late Head of State in June 1993 was revoked without explanation in February 2006, violating the Nigerian constitution and the Land Use Act.

They sought an order from the court to set aside the purported revocation and hold that their C of O remains valid because its revocation was done without adequate compensation.

The plaintiffs asked the court for an order of injunction prohibiting the defendants from taking further steps on the disputed revocation.

Similarly, they prayed for an award of N500 million as damages.

Government, company’s defence

However, in their separate counter-affidavits and preliminary objections, the defendants asked for an outright dismissal of the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/463/2016.

The defendants claimed that the suit had become statute-barred when the plaintiffs filed it, having not been filed within the time allowed by law, among other arguments.

Salamed Ventures’s lawyer, James Onoja, a SAN, argued that the suit was a mere academic exercise, lacking merit. He noted that Salamed Ventures acquired the property from the government for $1.3 million and held a valid C of O issued in May 2011.

Although some of the defendants were not in court in May proceedings, the judge, Mr Lifu, invoked the rule of the court in adopting their processes already filed.

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The court upheld the Nigerian government’s and other defendants’ objections in its judgement on Monday.

It was the fourth major legal defeat the Abacha family had suffered in their bid to reclaim the property.

They lost twice at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory and once at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, all on jurisdictional grounds.

The late Abacha seized power on 17 November 1993 after he dislodged the Ernest Shonekan-led interim government installed by the regime of Ibrahim Babangida.

He led a brutal regime for five years and was planning to transition to a civilian ruler when he suddenly died in office in 1998.