Kwara State Government's admission that it has leased out the controversial Ilorin Old (Yidi) Praying Ground is raising fresh dust.

Kwara Information Commissioner, Tunji Moronfoye, had at the weekend said Mrs Toyin Saraki had nothing to do with the transaction and confirmed for the first time that it had leased out the land.

Following the admission, the elders challenging the transaction in court on Monday challenged the government to tell the public whether a lessee is entitled to Certificate of Occupancy of a property being leased out.

"If it is a lease, how come Kwara State Government is issuing Artee with a Certificate of Occupancy? Is a lessee entitled, in law, to C of O or title document of a leased property?" the elders asked in a statement issued in Ilorin and signed by all the litigants, Dr. Saliu Ajibola Ajia, Dr. Sa'ad Omoiya, and Alhaji Saleh Duro Garba.

The statement added: "We are not surprised at the government and its hirelings trying to outdo one another in defence of Mrs Toyin Saraki, as typified in a story titled 'Kwara exonerates Toyin Saraki.' Gladly too, Kwara State Government finally admitted it has indeed 'leased out' the Old Yidi (Praying Ground), contrary to the earlier denials.

We are not bothered at this unusual sycophancy and the double speak in the statement issued by the Information Commissioner, Tunji Moronfoye."So we ask, assuming without conceding that the land was merely 'leased out', the lease is for how many years and for how much?

"On its defence of Mrs Saraki, the government should tell the public how many such philanthropic gestures did she make before 2003 and how many has she since 2011? Where did she get the money for the gesture?

"And why is the state govt defending an individual? Why using public fund to defend an individual? Why is the government more concerned about the image of an individual, a non-government official, who is a co-defendant than in defending the government which is also a defendant in the case?"

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