Property Demolition: Kwara Education Trust Fund Chairman, Mustapha, Resigns

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), AbdulHakeem Usman Mustapha, yesterday resigned as the chairman of Kwara State Education Trust Fund.

The legal luminary is a brother to the former member of the House of Representatives and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Hon. Mashood Mustapha, whose property was demolished by the state government last Sunday in Ilorin.

Since the demolition of the property called Crystal Plaza located on Sulu Gambari road, Ilorin, residents of the state have continued to express divergent views over the demolition.

The government, in its support of the demolition of the property, said that the property was against the intended motive upon which it was approved.

According to the statement issued by the Chairman, Kwara State Geographic Information Service (KW-GIS),  Mr. Sulyman Kareem, “The government is removing the Crystal corner shops because new findings show clearly that they grossly violate government’s land use approval issued to the owner on March 22, 2013. The approval was for the purpose of a commercial car park only.”

The statement also said the illegal building conspicuously creates obstacles for urban planning, road expansion and environmental protection, key features of the urban renewal programme of the government.

However, Mustapha in a letter addressed to the state Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on October 7, 2024, titled: ‘Notice of Resignation as Chairman Kwara State Education Trust Fund’, and made available to journalists in Ilorin yesterday  read: “ I hereby resign as the chairman of the Kwara State Education Trust Fund from effectively today October 7, 2024.

“I am grateful to the Kwara State Government to have served Your Excellency and the opportunity to serve the Kwara State Government during my tenure.