- Kaduna State government’s demolition of senator’s house is worrisome, to say the least
Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai has been accused of demolishing Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi’s house. The house on Sambo Road Close in Kaduna once served as the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign office for the governor and later served, until its demolition, as the headquarters for the Restoration Group faction of the APC in the state. The faction had earlier suspended the governor from the party from the same building.
There are two narratives about the demolition. From el-Rufai’s side, the building on 11B, Sambo Road Close was demolished for violation of land use regulations and failure to pay land use rent since 2010. The owner of the building, Senator Hunkuyi claims that the state governor, in the company of soldiers, demolished his house during the dark hours of the night. Some senators have blamed el-Rufai for what they see as malicious destruction of the property of a fellow party leader and have asked the governor to re-build the house or pay for demolishing it.
The demolition should not be left to senators to settle. Nor should the matter be consigned to the national body of APC to handle, without paying attention to what seems like a return to the culture of impunity which the outcomes of the 2015 elections ought to have ended. There are loose ends that need to be tied for the story of the two sides to add up.
In the first place, is it true that Hunkuyi’s house demolished for violating land use regulations was the campaign office for el-Rufai in 2015? Secondly, why was it demolished only after the building was transferred to the Restoration Group faction, despite the fact that it had defaulted in land use charge payment since 2010? Thirdly, aren’t there ways of ensuring that the landlord of a house slated for demolition has duly received adequate notice about the government’s intention to demolish his or her house?
Fourthly, shouldn’t the Kaduna State government have insisted that recipients of such important notices sign for them in compliance with due process? Also, did Senator Hunkuyi or his agents not receive any of the notices that the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KASGIS) and Kaduna State Urban Planning Development Agency (KASUPDA) claimed to have sent to the house?
Individual politicians in the same party may disagree on ideology or methods of obtaining or remaining in power. But such disagreement should not be allowed to compromise the integrity of democratic governance, especially the principle of rule of law and due process. It may very well be that a peace committee already established by the national headquarters of the APC can reconcile both politicians; however, what the demolition of the house of a political opponent in the early hours demonstrates is an avoidable attempt to degrade democracy. This dangerous pattern in the governance style of Governor el-Rufai needs to be addressed not only at the party level but also through other institutions of democratic governance. The proclivity of his government to harass people he cannot count as political or religious supporters is worrisome and needs to be discouraged.
At one time it was the property of Ibrahim Zakzaky’s group that was ‘removed’ for constituting a nuisance to neighbours. At another time it was the house of Deputy National Chairman of APC Northwest, Inuwa Abdulkadir, that had to be demolished because it violated regulations. Now it is the house that once served as his campaign office that got demolished in the middle of the night. Immunity or no immunity, a public enquiry ought to be made on the senator’s allegation of intolerance and use of public office to settle personal scores. Resistance to any trace of authoritarianism or absolute rule is necessary not only for Kaduna but for all states of the federation.
More worrisome, the mention of involvement of soldiers from 1 Division of Nigerian Army should not be dismissed or ignored, despite refutation of the charge by a spokesman for the army. The army in a democracy is too important an institution to be associated with political partisanship or moral compromise. We call for a public enquiry into the allegation of military complicity in the demolition of the house. Citizens need to be assured that the military in a democracy is clearly above board and is always seen to be so.
