Metro
Court restricts Plateau govt from rebuilding Jos main market
The Plateau State Government led by Governor Simon Lalong has been restricted from rebuilding the Jos Main Market as a State High Court sitting in Jos pronounced an order of perpetual injunction on it yesterday.
Delivering the judgement, Justice S. P. Gang stated that the state government, under Lalong failed to take the due process as stipulated in Section 7 of the fourth schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Dachung Musa Bagos, a lawmaker representing Jos North/East Federal Constituency, had challenged the attempt by the state government to enter into an MoU with Jaiz Bank to rebuild the market that was burnt several years ago.
Bagos, in the suit he filed on August 1, prayed the court to, among seven reliefs, restrain the state government and its cronies from any further agreement with Jaiz Bank over the market.
Read also: Plateau begins process to demolish Jos main market
While granting all the seven reliefs sought by the plaintiff, the court asserted, “By Section 3(2) subsection 7, Act of 1978, ownership of land in any state of the federation is vested on the governor of the state, and only the governor has the right to grant statutory right of occupancy to any person. But in the case of the rebuilding of Jos Main Market, the state government didn’t follow the due processes.”
Before it was gutted by fire on February 12 2022, the Jos Main Market was the centre of commerce for the people of the state. Since this occurrence, market women and relevant stakeholders have been calling on the state government to rebuild it.
In efforts to rebuild the market and reverse the economic hardship of the affected traders, the state government partnered with Jaiz Bank in an agreement to reconstruct the market, but the legislator challenged this move.
By Mohammed Taoheed…
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