The De Renaissance Patriots Foundation and Ibeju-Lekki Peoples Forum have taken the Lagos State government to the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, urging the court to compel the state government to release information about whether Aliko Dangote’s recent claim that he paid $100 million was true or false.

According to the media office of the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, if the claim is true, the state government is required to give a detailed account as to how such huge amount of money in hard currency was collected in exchange for the Ibeju-Lekki people’s land and why there was no public statement to the effect, and then to state which account the money was paid to and what it was used for.

The suit was contained in an originating motion brought under Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, Sections 1,3, 4, 7, 20 and 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and inherent jurisdiction of the court in the matter of the application by the applicants.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Attorney-General of the state, Accountant-General of the state, Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau in the state and Lagos State Government are respondents in the suit.

The motion, filed and registered by the court with suit no FHC/L/CS/1603/2024, is seeking the court for an order of mandamus to be issued against the respondents with a view to compelling Lagos State Government to release the information required by the applicants.

Lead counsel to the applicants, Yakubu Eleto Esq, said the entire livelihood of the people of Ibeju-Lekki was destroyed by the mere fact of the siting of the Dangote Refinery without any affected resident/host communities compensated.

Eleto said that the people of the area had suffered neglect for the past nine years, only for them to now hear from Dangote that he paid $100 million for the same land they were not compensated for.

He added: “We want to know where that money is.”

The case, according to Eleto, was yet to be assigned to a judge being that it was filed on Friday (September 6, 2024) whereas cases in the Federal High Court are assigned on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He said that by Tuesday, September 10, 2024, the case is going to be assigned to a judge.