The Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), a socio-cultural organisation, has demanded the abrogation of the Kwara State Legal Notice No 17 of 2009, which declares Ilorin and the Ilorin Emirate an urban area.

IEDPU stated this in Ilorin, the state capital, at a public hearing in the House of Assembly, at the weekend.

The group, in a paper signed by its National President, Justice Saka Yusuf (rtd), said: "That the Kwara State Legal Notice 44 published in the state Gazette No 17 Volume 43 of September 24, 2009 is not a law passed by the Kwara State House of Assembly and it is not even a resolution of the House of Assembly; that the legal notice being an order issue personally by the governor, does not require the involvement of the state House of Assembly before it could be amended, suspended or withdrawn by the governor; that the legal notice, in so far as it declares the whole of Ilorin Township and, in fact, the entire emirate, as an urban area, is unacceptable to the people of the emirate, bearing in mind the unsavoury implications which that declaration has within the context of the Land Use Act.

It said these include: "The power of issue customary right of occupancy on customary land, which the Land Use Act confers on local governments in the emirate is ousted by the legal notice; that the legal notice has denied the ordinary people of the emirate access to area courts on customary land matters."

IEDPU's position, which was presented by a lawyer, Yahaya Saadu, added: "Inheritance of land or succession to customary title to land is abrogated by the legal notice; the legal notice denies indigenes of the emirate the right to repair existing residential buildings, erect new buildings or farms even at their backyard without the consent of the governor and the legal notice has turned the customary land owners into tenants liable to pay prohibitive rent to government on their land."

The Director-General of the state, Bureau of lands, Mr Tope Daramola, in his submission, said the agency has not acquired any land in the state without abiding with the law on land acquisition in the state.

He said the bureau has not acquired the llorin Eid praying ground and the Emir's palace as being speculated in some quarters.

Daramola denied insinuations that the bureau acquired lands for building of religious houses in some part of the state.

Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Razak Atunwa, stressed that the exercise was not meant to review existing laws, but to get suggestions which it would send to the governor.

His words: "It has been suggested that the Bureau of Lands has indiscriminately carved out and sold various institutional land. It has been suggested that the Yidi Prayer Ground, parts of the Emir's Palace and land belonging to educational institutions, have been sold by the bureau. There is no evidence before the House that there has been any such sale.

"The suggestion that the Yidi Prayer Ground and part of Emir's Palace have been sold are not only preposterous and ludicrous, they are mischievous. The Kwara Central Senator, and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly are devout Muslims with deep family roots in the emirate and have the highest reverence for Islam and respect for the emir.

"The governor also has strong affinity with Ilorin and a devout Muslim. It is, therefore, unthinkable that all three will stand idly by and watch any desecration of those lands."