TELL Magazine

Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has said he is ready to meet his Kano State counterpart, Abdullahi Ganduje, in court over the mosque demolition saga in Port Harcourt.

Ganduje had said he would sue Wike for allegedly demolishing the Rainbow Town Central Mosque in Trans-Amadi area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

But in a statement by Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to Wike on Electronic Media, the Rivers State governor said Ganduje cannot pocket him “sheepishly and recklessly”.

“I saw a statement released by Abdulahi Umar Ganduje. He said that he would sue Governor Wike over the falsehood that a Mosque was demolished in Port Harcourt.

“For the umpteenth time, no mosque was demolished by Governor Wike. No Mosque was demolished by the Rivers State Government.

“The story was a fabrication by one Alhaji Tobacco. The fabrication was orchestrated by some media houses for obvious mischievous political reasons. These baseless press releases confirm the ugly plot,” Nwakaudu said.

Citing a court judgment on the disputed land, Wike’s media aide said, “Justice Omereji of the Rivers State High Court held that: ‘The defendants have in Exhibits J, J1 and J2 inclusive of Exhibit K, which is the Certificate of Title, established that the land, the subject matter of this suit, was acquired in 1959 by the Government.

“My humble opinion is that the claimants have not established that they have better title to the land, the subject matter of this suit and they have not established that at the material time they were in possession and that the defendants do not have better title to the land’.

“The Court further ruled that the claimants had no approval to build on the disputed land.

“The entire world is aware of the above facts. Nobody has circulated any photographs or videos of the said Mosque that Ganduje and other APC chieftains are harping on. They merely want to use a non-existent Mosque story to score ugly political points.

“Pray, what redress would Ganduje be seeking in court when he sues Governor Wike? Would Ganduje tell the court to relegate the Rivers State Ministry of Urban Development and Physical Planning and enthrone its Kano State Counterpart? Would Ganduje be asking the Court to hand over jurisdiction to Kano State High Court?”