The BUA Group has told Kogi state government that it was no longer interested in its 50,000 hectares of land allocated to it in 2012.
The company said its non interest in the land is because of its inaccessibility and non-viability for business.
The Kogi House of Assembly on Monday October 17, had threatened to revoke the Certificate of Occupancy of the 50,000ha land allocated to the group if it failed to pay for it as well as pay compensation to the host communities.
The House also asked BUA to appear before it on Wednesday, to explain why it failed to pay for the land after 10 years of allocation.
Kogi Assembly’s invitation was precipitated by the acting Surveyor-General, Mr Salihu Mustapha’s address of the House on Monday.
The Assembly’s Ad-hoc committee is probing operations of 157 companies in the state and Mustapha told it that BUA Group had failed to pay for the 50,000ha land.
“We are having problem with the BUA Group over 50,000 hectares of land it acquired in 2012 and even obtained a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) but has not paid a kobo for the land.
“We have written to the Group several times but it has not responded to any of the letters.
“No compensation has been paid to the communities that own the expanse of land,” he had told the Adhoc committee.
Reacting to the Surveyor-General’s submission, the House gave BUA Group Wednesday, October 19 to appear before it.
However, BUA said it had indicated in its earlier letter to the state government on September 21, 2022 (obtained by ASHENEWS on Wednesday), that it is no longer interested in the land.
Read the letter below:
“You can go ahead and revoke the Certificate of Occupancy Nos KG. 11713 as we are not interested.
“We wish to state for the records that BUA has yet to take possession of, and has never utilised the land due to its inaccessibility and unviability for business.
“Currently, the land is only accessible by water and without the required investments and other enabling infrastructure, the venture will not be feasible.
“Since 2012 that the land was allocated to us, there has been no visible effort by the state and successive governments till date, to address the issue of access (i.e. infrastructure, roads) that will enable us utilise the land for its intended purpose.
“Again, there has been a massive deterioration of security in, and around, the area for the past few years making it practically impossible to start any project there as an investor,” BUA’s letter reads.
“A feasibility studies we conducted on the land found that only about 30 per cent of the entire land mass was suitable for investment with the rest consisting of rocky, hilly and undulating areas, which was not suitable for its intended purpose.
“Consequently, due to the reasons enumerated above, and the fallout associated with it, we hereby wish to indicate through this letter, and inform you that we are no longer interested in continuing with our proposed investment.
“We wish to, however, state unequivocally that if we had decided to proceed with the proposed project, BUA would have been happy to pay all dues and necessary compensation to the state and other stakeholders in line with our obligations.
“This is because as a responsible organisation, we believe in the principles of equity, sustainable business practices, and fairness, which has been the hallmark of our operations and engagements with communities and governments, everywhere we operate.
“Since the land cannot be used for its intended purpose and based on the foregoing, the government of Kogi may go ahead to revoke the land if it so wished,” BUA’s letter reads.
