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Preboyes gets reprieve on land case

By DELE OGUNYEMI, Ibadan

In Oyo State High Court has granted Ibadan-based tourism expert and businessman, Prince Isaac Caution Preboyes, out-of-court settlement in a seven-year old legal suit in which he had been struggling to save his expansive estate at Agbowo, Ibadan, from being demolished by the Oyo state government.

Reprieve came his way as the High Court granted an out-of-court settlement application brought by him and the state government.

It will be recalled that the administration of former Governor Lam Adesina in 2001 had alleged that part of the location of Prince Preboyes’ estate close to the University of Ibadan (UI) violated the Town Planning regulations, and so should be demolished.

Prince Preboyes, in his eagerness to save the estate (which has been serving many of the students of the institution in terms of accommodation and social services) from being demolished, commenced litigation at the court.

In the suit marked I/757/2001, Prince Preboyes, operating under the business name ‘Rural Development Nigeria Limited’, had dragged the Governor of Oyo state, Attorney General of Oyo state, Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Survey, Oyo state, and the Director of Town Planning, Oyo state before series of Oyo state courts, asking for order restraining the government from bulldozing his estate.

The legal luminary and Aare Baamofin of Yorubaland, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), had represented Preboyes (whose father is Ijaw and mother Ibadan-born) for a number of years, before Mr. Edema Femi Jarret, took it over.

Seven years after, the two parties resolved to settle out of court and Justice Olajumoke Aiki of the Iyaganku High Court 17 in her ruling on Thursday adopted the consenting terms of settlement as her judgment.

While Edema presented the terms of settlement before the judge, the state government counsel, Mr. Sola Orobode from the Ministry of Justice, concurred, asking the judge to adopt it as judgment of the court.

Reacting to the judgment, Prince Preboyes told newsmen that the experience had been so harrowing, as many of his tenants for over seven years have refused to pay for their rent on the fear and guise that the place might be demolished anytime.

But he expressed appreciation to Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and the Ministries concerned for abating his ordeals, saying that "this singular act is a demonstration of the fact that the present administration is alive to the need to allow small and medium scale entrepreneurs to thrive in the state for the socio-economic benefit of the organisations and the entire people living in it, irrespective of state of origin.

The terms of settlement read in part, that ".a Certificate of Statutory Right of occupancy shall be issued in favour of the plaintiff covering the land in dispute and which shall be in addition to the land already covered by Certificate of Statutory Right of Occupancy dated 6/9/91 and registered as No. 8 at page 8 in Volume 3029 of the lands Registry at Ibadan, earlier issued in favour of the plaintiff;

"That the payment of the sum of N1, 071, 320. 00 already made by the plaintiffs to the third defendant (Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Survey) in respect of the area in dispute be taken into cognisance and used to offset part of whatever statutory fees that may be determined by the state government upon completion of survey works on the area in dispute; that the receipts for the aforementioned payments made, be allowed to be submitted and filed in the company’s lease file with the Ministry; and

"That the plaintiff shall liaise with the fourth defendant and forward to it a new developmental scheme which shall conform with approved developmental plan and special standards of the state after Certificate of Occupancy had been issued; that the fourth defendant shall grant to the plaintiff, special concessions in view of the existing physical structures at the site so as to safeguard the plaintiff investments over the years, while the parties shall, bear their respective costs".

 

 

 
 
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