Kaduna Government Auctions 1,990 Government Quarters

By John Shiklam in Kaduna

As part of measures to cut down cost, the  Kaduna State Government is to sell 1,990 of its non-essential residential quarters to the public through  auction.

The government in a statement said the decision to sell the houses was taken at a meeting of the state executive council presided over by the Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.

“The houses are to be sold by means of a public auction based on their open-market value.

“According to the approved guidelines, only persons and corporate bodies resident in Kaduna State are eligible to submit bids for the properties, and each property will be sold at the highest price offered.

“The guidelines also stipulate that no property will be sold for less than its reserve price,” the statement said, adding that  every bidder is restricted to only one property.

The guidelines further  indicated that the public servants that are currently occupying the properties have the first right of refusal to match the winning bid.

The sale however, excludes all government quarters in schools, hospitals and similar public institutions.

The statement noted that “at about 3,000 in number, government residential quarters have always accommodated only a minority of public servants but with a disproportionate impact in terms of resources devoted to their maintenance and renovation.”

The statement said a  full list of the houses  had been uploaded on the state website.