National library to open Bauchi branch faces eviction in Abuja

But its headquarters faces a threat of eviction by the owners of the premises it occupies in central Abuja, said National Library director Habib Jato.Jato raised the alarm over possible eviction when the House of Representatives Committee on education visited the library, insisting the library had a backlog of two and half years of unpaid […]

But its headquarters faces a threat of eviction by the owners of the premises it occupies in central Abuja, said National Library director Habib Jato.
Jato raised the alarm over possible eviction when the House of Representatives Committee on education visited the library, insisting the library had a backlog of two and half years of unpaid rent.
He told the legislators that the property owner had given the library up to the end of September to enforce the threat of eviction.
The committee chairman, Aminu Suleiman, called the threat from the landlord over unpaid rent unacceptable and unjustifiable.
Jato noted that its yet-to-be-completed national headquarters in central Abuja, which started since 2006, was a constraint that made operational coordination and service delivery difficult.
The complex, adjacent to the National Mosque, has taken up to N11 billion, according to consultants on the project.
However, the National Library is proposing establishment of three other branches in Bayelsa, Borno and Jigawa this year, in addition to that in Bauchi.
It also plans to renovate prototype buildings of its state branches in Akure and Owerri, and complete others in Osogbo, Calabar, Gombe and Katsina.
Jato said the projects called for adequate budgetary appropriation and therefore sought the assistance of the committee in the 2014 appropriation.