House of Reps order trial of lawyers, bank officials over N630m Abuja land scam

The House of Representatives has directed the police and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to prosecute the lawyers and some bank officials identified in the alleged N630 million land scam.

Its committee on public petition had probed the alleged forgery case brought against an old generation bank by the proprietor of Whiteplains British School, Abuja, Dr. Francis Nwufoh.

In the resolution marked NASS/CNA/105/VOL 25/175C, dated June 17, the house called on related institutions, including NBA and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to investigate the bank’s role in the alleged forgery of the controversial Deed of Tripartite Legal Mortgage Documents with Whiteplains.

The minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has also been urged to mandate the Director of Land, Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS), to expunge all the documents filed in securing the Deed of Tripartite Legal Mortgage of the plot of land in the Jabi area of Abuja.

The land located within Dakibiyu District, Cadastral Zone B10, measuring approximately 1.8 hectares, was allocated to France Lee Nigeria Limited by virtue of the term of grant/conveyance of approval dated July 24, 1998 and a Certificate of Occupancy dated August 31, 2005.

Reps urged the FCT minister to prevail on the director of land to equally expunge, discountenance and cancel the said forged deed over the said property, stressing that it was secured by fraud.

In addition, they urged the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to cancel the Letter of Consent to directors of France-Lee and Form CO7, the particulars of directors by the external solicitor to the bank.

Zephaniah Jisalo (APC, AMAC/Bwari) had presented a petition on the issue, on behalf of Whiteplains at the House of Representatives’ sitting of Tuesday, December 11, 2018.