The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday tendered three documents as exhibits in the prosecution of the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and two others charged with \u00a0alleged unlawful allocation of Abuja land. The anti-graft commission accused the trio of delaying trial.<\/span><\/p>\n With el-Rufai are former Director-General, Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) Mrs. Altine Jubrin, and former AGIS General- Manager, Mr. Ismail Iro.<\/span><\/p>\n The Prosecution Witness 1, \u00a0Mohammed Sani Alhassan, a former Executive Secretary in Engineering Department of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) told Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar that el-Rufai ignored his advice.<\/span><\/p>\n Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Adebayo Adelodun (SAN), \u00a0Al-Hassan told the court that he advised him against diverting the plot of land allocated to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) other than the purpose for which it was allocated, \u201cbut the former Minister ignored my advice\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The documents which were presented before the court were: A letter written by Julius Berger Plc to the Engineering Department, FCDA, dated 26th January, 2007. The letter was a reminder that the plot of land in dispute at Asokoro- Abuja was earmarked for PHCN.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The second document tendered was a letter written by the Engineering Department of FCDA, to Secretary, Planning Department, FCDA, dated January, 2007.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The third document was a memo written by Al-Hassan to \u00a0Mallam \u00a0el-Rufai, dated 6th February, 2007 advising him not to alter the master plan.<\/span><\/p>\n The memo, which el-Rufai received on February 9, 2007 reiterated the concerns expressed by Julius Berger and was emphatic in its conclusion that in view of the undesirable consequences of altering the land use of this area, which definitely will be obvious in future, \u201cMr. Minister, may wish to consider reversing the approval granted to redesign the area and return the land use to status quo\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Under cross-examination, Al-Hassan agreed that the power to allocate and revoke land in the FCT is vested in the Minister.<\/span><\/p>\n He conceded that he has not seen the document vesting the PHCN with any title to Plot 1201, Asokoro.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He admitted that the letter conveying the allocation to the PHCN in July 2003 had no specific date, which, he attributed to oversight.<\/span><\/p>\n But the court was reminded that the time fell within the transition period when there was no substantive minister.<\/span><\/p>\n Alhassan admitted that he did not have the power to allocate land, and was unable to show any approval by any minister allocating the plot to PHCN.<\/span><\/p>\n The witness also agreed that all titles to land must be registered in compliance with the Land Registration Act, and cannot be left unused indefinitely.<\/span><\/p>\n He confirmed that his daughter was allocated a plot within the now contentious Plot 1201, Asokoro after following due process and that these procedures apply to all Nigerians who are entitled to land in Abuja, including the accused \u00a0and their relations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n