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Ikoyi Collapsed Building Subscribers Signed Between $500,000 Contract To $3million Each — Report

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Some subscribers to the collapsed 21-storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos State, signed contracts ranging from over $500,000 (N206.5m) to over $3m (N1.24bn) for the purchase of luxury apartments in the high-rise from Fourscore Heights Limited, findings by our correspondent have revealed.

Documents obtained by our correspondent showed that after the payment of an initial deposit, most of the subscribers signed an agreement to pay the balance over a period of 48 months.

In an interview with The PUNCH, subscribers said the management of Fourscore Heights Limited made the payment plan so flexible that intending apartment owners could pay their balance through instalment payments over a period of 48 months.

The instalments, according to them, are expected to be made either monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or yearly, depending on the choice of the subscribers.

They also revealed that the luxury apartments on the high-rise went for various prices, with subscribers to the apartments on the upper floors paying more than those on the lower floors.

One of the subscribers, who chose to speak on condition of anonymity, said, “The higher the floor your apartment is located, the higher the price. Those on the higher floors paid more than those of us on the lower floors. I subscribed for a three-bedroom apartment on one of the floors below the eighth floor which went for $650,000. However, the owner of Fourscore Heights Limited, Mr Femi Osibana, reduced the price for some persons who were close to him. I happened to be one of those fellows. Femi and I were childhood friends.

“So, he also reduced my price to $565,000. We were together in Mayflower School in Ikene, Ogun State. We were also together at some points in London when he used to travel to Italy to buy suits and shoes for sale in the United Kingdom. Subscribers in my category were asked to pay only the initial deposit of $65,000 and then spread the remaining $500,000 over a 48-month period.

“I was told subscribers on the 12th floor and above-signed agreements to pay over $1.2m over a 48-month period while those on the 17th floor and above were asked to sign agreements to pay over $3m and above, depending on terms of the negotiation and agreement.”

A subscriber, who told our correspondent that he was given an apartment on the fifth floor, said he planned to pay a monthly instalment of $10,416 (N4,301,808) over a period of 48 months, following an agreement to pay $65,000 (N26,845,000) as initial deposit.

According to him, the total package was $565,000 (N233,345,000) and it was meant to be paid over a four-year period, after the payment of the initial deposit of $65,000.

A copy of the subscriber’s letter, which was obtained by our correspondent, showed that aside from the luxury apartments, the 21-storey building also contained several facilities to be enjoyed by the intending owners, including a power generating plant, club house, swimming pool, communal offices, gym and spa, 24-hour security, servant’s quarter and parking space.

The package also included legal and agency fees, which were not disclosed in the offer letter.

The letter, which was on the letterhead of Fourscore Heights Limited, has the address of the company as 2-4 Mosley Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

It read in part, “We are pleased to offer for sale three bedroom Finished Flat on 5th floor Peace Building for the sum of USD 565,000.00 (five hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars only), situated at 44bcd Gerrard Road as described above, under the following terms and conditions subject to contract viz details of development: three bedrooms (all en suite), one-bedroom servant’s quarter, kitchen, parking space, generating plant, 24-hour security, access to clubhouse, swimming pool, communal offices, gym and spa.

“Purpose: Strictly residential. Title: Deed of Sublease. Payment terms: 1st payment -$5,000; 2nd payment – $60,000; Balance payment – (this will be spread over the period of four (4) years. Legal fees: five per cent. Agency fees: five per cent. All payments should be made in favour of O. Osibona/Fourscore Heights Limited.”

The letter also showed that subscribers were to make payments in dollars into the company’s domiciliary account, which was provided in the letter.

Efforts to get Fourscore Heights Limited to react to the development failed.

Calls were made to the official lines of the company indicated the lines were switched off. Text messages sent to the lines were also not replied to as of the time of filing this report.

Punch

BIG STORY

BREAKING: Court Finds Natasha Guilty Of Contempt, Fines Her N5 million

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday convicted the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for contempt over a satirical apology she posted on her Facebook page on April 27.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering judgment in the suit filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenging her suspension, began with the contempt application submitted by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio, in his application, argued that the senator’s social media post breached an earlier court order that restrained all parties from speaking to the press or posting on social media about the matter.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel contended that the post was unrelated to the court’s order on her suspension but was about a separate matter involving sexual harassment claims against the third respondent (Akpabio).

However, Justice Nyako ruled that after reviewing the post and the application before her filed by the third respondent, she was convinced it was connected to the suspension case before the court and therefore declared the plaintiff guilty of contempt.

The judge directed Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish an apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days. She also imposed a fine of N5 million.

 

More to come…

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BIG STORY

BREAKING: Court Orders Senate To Recall Suspended Natasha Akpoti

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate exceeded its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her to be immediately recalled to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering the judgment, described the suspension period as “excessive” and lacking a solid legal basis.

The court stated that both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the Senate relied on, do not specify a maximum suspension length. Therefore, their application in this situation was considered overreaching.

The judge noted that since the National Assembly is only mandated to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for about the same length of time effectively silences an entire constituency, calling it unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court agreed with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a different issue, ruling that his decision to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from speaking during a plenary—because she was not in her designated seat—did not violate her rights.

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary should not interfere in what he described as an “internal affair” of the legislature, saying fundamental rights and representation fall squarely within the court’s jurisdiction.

In a separate twist, the court imposed a monetary penalty on Akpoti-Uduaghan for violating an earlier court directive that barred both parties from making public comments about the ongoing legal proceedings.

The fine amounts to millions of naira.

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COALITION: We’ll Register New Party As Backup To ADC — El-Rufai

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A leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and an important figure in the opposition coalition, Nasir El-Rufai, stated that a new political party would be registered as a backup for the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

El-Rufai explained that the new party would serve as an alternative option to guard against potential infiltration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the ADC.

The opposition coalition had chosen the ADC as its platform on Wednesday.

However, El-Rufai noted that there is a possibility the APC could spark a crisis within the ADC by turning old members against the new leadership.

He revealed this during an interview with Radio France International (RFI) Hausa Service on Wednesday night.

“Those who refuse to join the APC face threats of investigations by agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), or Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The opposition parties’ alliance in the ADC is temporary, and we may register a new party as a second option, which we will move to should the ADC be instigated into crisis by the government,” the former Kaduna governor stated.

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