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The Federal High Court II sitting in Minna, the Niger State capital, presided over by Justice Abdullahi Mohammed Dan-Ige, has fixed June 10, 2024, to determine whether or not to entertain a multi-billion-naira ground rents and land charges case against the power generation companies operating in the state.
The Niger State Internal Revenue Service has filed dual cases against North-South Power Company Limited and its Power Generating Station as well as Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited and its Power Generating Stations for accrued arrears of ground rents and land charges.
However, the counsel to the first and second defendants, the Federal Ministry of Power and the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company, in the suit involving Shiroro Hydroelectric Power and the Noth-South Power Company Limited, Barr. Oba Maduabuchi (SAN), drew the attention of the court to its motion on notice seeking the transfer of the case to the Niger State High Court, which has the requisite jurisdiction.
Barr Maduabuchi argued that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate cases regarding land and rent issues.
In his six-paragraph affidavit motion seeking the transfer of the case, he opined that it was only the state high court that had the jurisdiction to handle such cases.
In response, the plaintiff's counsel, Barr Aliyu Ibrahim Lemu, submitted that no relief was sought in the application of the first and second defendants and argued that the counsel misconstrued the suit of the plaintiff.
Barr Lemu told the court that the case is an action seeking the interpretation and enforcement of the Niger State administration law 2022 and, as such, urged the court to strike out the application for incompetence.
Similarly, in the case involving Ka'inji Hydroelectric Power Company and Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, the counsel adopted the same arguments.
The presiding judge, Justice Dan-Ige, adjourned the case to June 10, 2024, for a ruling.
The Niger State Internal Revenue Service has filed N127b and N21b ground rents and land charges against the defendants for their failures to remit the charges to the state government.
The Honourable Minister of State, Youths Development, Hon. Ayodele Olawande, has urged Nigerian youths to believe in themselves so as to realise and develop their potential.
The Minister stated this on Saturday, while interacting with youths in Niger State, at a town hall meeting on the new National Youths Development Policy, held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna.
He described Nigerian youths as wonderful people and the best that can be found anywhere in the world if provided with a conducive environment, adding that it was high time the youths stopped accepting the name tag as leaders of tomorrow but leaders of today.
He stressed the need to change the orientation of the youths towards a productive life, saying that with competency, commitment, and good character, the youths will change the country and prove to our forefathers that we can develop the country.
While appreciating the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, for giving the youths a place in his government, the minister also disclosed that youths have the ideas and initiatives to move this country forward but cannot make it work unless all stakeholders join hands together to make it work.
In his address, the state governor, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago, who was represented at the event by his deputy, Comrade Yakubu Garba, said Niger State was fortunate to have youth leaders who have the capacity to deliver on their mandate.
He said that the youths were an integral part of the agricultural revolution in the state in order to give them a new lease of life, as the government cannot absorb all the unemployed youths in the state in its formal sector.
While urging the youths in the state to embrace skills acquisition, he advised the youth leaders in the state to link up with their colleagues in the informal sector and bridge the gap between youths in the formal and informal sectors.
The state commissioner for youths and sports development, Hon. Yahaya Ibrahim Gulbin-Boka, said the government of Umaru Bago recognises the youths as drivers of the development of the state and the nation at large, hence the friendly nature of the government towards the youths.
He said the state has taken into cognizance the peculiar challenges of the youths in the state, which hinge on unemployment, but that the state is putting mechanisms in place to engage them meaningfully.
Earlier in his remarks, the state chairman of the National Youths Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Amb. Abdullahi Ishaq, said the presence of the Minister in the town hall meeting was a beacon of hope to youths in the state, assuring the Minister that Niger state youths have enormous potential and are ready to drive the development of the state and the country at large.
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