Kaduna State Government has issued a 30-day notice to Senator Suleiman Uthman Hunkuyi, to pay a N31 million ground rent debt on his residence at 18A Inuwa Wada Road or risk being taken over.
The notice, which was signed by the Director General of the Kaduna State Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), Mr. Ibrahim Hussaini, with file number KDL 92163, was issued on February 20, 2018, and Hunkuyi was ordered to pay the “Ground Rent” on the property located at Inuwa Wada Road, Unguwan Rimi GRA, Gabasawa, from 1995 to 2018.
The state government ordered Hunkuyi, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as Governor Nasir El-Rufai, to pay N31, 467,861 into the KADIS PAYDirect platform or risk takeover.
In response to the new order, Hunkuyi, on his Twitter handle, yesterday evening, said:
“Once again, El-Rufai has sent a ridiculous bill to me for a purported ground rent of my personal house at Inuwa Wada to the tune of N30 million, to be paid within 30 days, failure to do so might possibly result in another demolition; like he did on my other property. “As of 2017, I had paid my dues to Kaduna State Internal Revenue Services and they have duly issued me receipts to that effect.
“This letter, today (yesterday), demanding N30 million within 30 days is draconian and, indeed, a blatant display of abuse of power.”
Meanwhile, the state government, yesterday, challenged Hunkuyi to go to court if he feels aggrieved about the demolition of his property on 11B, Sambo Close.
The state government said demolition of the property on Tuesday was in conformity with the law of the state.
EL-Rufai’s Political Adviser, Uba Sani, told newsmen in Abuja that the state government has no regret for the action, even as he dismissed insinuations that the move had political undertones.
Insisting that that the demolition was in order, Sani said there was no truth in claims by some people that El-Rufai was on a mission to persecute Hunkuyi.
Said Sani: “The demolition was legal. It had nothing to do with the person concerned, the state has a law made for everybody, Hunkuyi is not an exception.
“The demolition is not persecution. If it is taken as persecution, it means that other people that their buildings were demolished in Zaria, or Kaduna, for the same reason of violating the law, were also persecuted. “The governor is only interested in working within the framework of the law.”
The APC factional office of those loyal to Hunkuyi, which was opened last week, was demolished by the state government who accused him of not paying ground rents since 2010.
The demolition was allegedly supervised by heavily armed security personnel made up of army and police.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Hunkuyi wrote: “It is on record that few months back, @GovKaduna Mallam @elrufai marked another property of mine in Hunkuyi town for demolition but residents of the area prevented the officials from demolishing it.
“He came well-prepared with military men to destroy my house at Sambo Road.”
At its plenary same day, Senate condemned the demolition of Hunkuyi’s house.
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