The Special Adviser Zamfara Urban and Regional Planning Board Comr. Anas Abdullahi Kaura has declared that the steps taken by the Zamfara housing ministry to issue eviction notice to traders and businessmen in some parts of Gusau is unilaterally taken by the ministry.
Kaura who stated this during a press conference in Gusau on Monday insisted that, the Governor of Zamfara is not in the picture and was never informed of such decision by the housing ministry.
“When I was notified that the housing ministry had sent a letter demanding for the release of the Director General ZUREPB and one other director to be part of the committee constituted by the housingministry, I asked if there was an approval of the Governor or Deputy Governor and the reply I got was in the negative”.
“I directed my DG and the other director nominated as members of the committee by the housing ministry not to attend any activity by that committee because it is illegally constituted”.
Kaura added that in order to ascertain the extent of the involvement of the government in the decision by the housing ministry, he wrote a letter to the house committee on housing and town planning and the reply from house was also in the negative.
Instead the house issued a letter to the ministry asking them to stop any further action pending determination of the report of the committee on allocation of shops in Zamfara state.
He noted that despite the warning by the house, the ministry continue with its plans as scheduled using the committee as a cover.
“For us we cannot recognize a committee constituted without the approval of either the Governor or Deputy Governor and this is why we stayed away from any action made by that committee”.
“The power to ensure allocation of shops and their construction lies with the ZUREPB not the ministry for housing, our gazette is clear, and the housing ministry knew very well that they are acting outside their jurisdictional mandate”.
He urged the affected shop owners to ignore any call by the committee and continue with their normal businesses; hence the Governor will not enforce suffering on any of his citizen.
