Alumni of Federal Government College Kano have gone to court. They're fighting what they call an illegal handover of school land to private developers.
The Federal High Court in Abuja received the lawsuit on Sunday. FGCKOSA, the old students association, filed the case seeking to block the land conversion.
Justice Inyang Ekwo will handle the matter. The first hearing is set for July 8, 2026.
Multiple parties face the court challenge. They include the Federal Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Pluck Global Company Limited, and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission.
The suit also names the Attorney-General of the Federation. Aminu Haruna Maipampo, the association's national publicity secretary, explained why in a statement.
He noted that the AGF has constitutional duties as chief law officer. The government must comply with the law, Maipampo said.
At its heart, the case asks a simple question. Can land reserved for a federal school be turned over to private business?
"The future of Federal Government College Kano cannot be decided in secrecy," FGCKOSA stated. "A private commercial arrangement should never convert school land into a private estate."
The association says it wrote to education officials before. They demanded full details of the agreement but got nothing back.
No complete disclosure came. The legal basis for the transaction remained hidden, the group claimed.
There's more trouble with the timeline. A court order in Kano apparently already exists restraining further action on the land.
Yet project workers entered the school grounds anyway. They marked out portions of land for development, FGCKOSA alleged.
This amounts to defiance of court authority. The association views it as an aggressive push to move the project forward.
About 30 hectares would be carved out. FGCKOSA warns this could cripple the institution permanently.
"Federal Government College Kano is not vacant land," the statement read. "Its land was reserved for education, security, recreation and future expansion."
The association isn't against all development though. It opposes what it calls a secretive stripping of public school assets.
FGCKOSA has offered its own plan. Alumni want a transparent, alumni-led approach that keeps land for educational purposes.
Before the court, the association makes three key demands. First, a declaration that public land for the college cannot become private property.
Second, an order scrapping any existing agreement. Third, an injunction stopping all parties from further action on the land.
The group wants recognition that converting school land violates the Land Use Act. It also violates concession laws and the constitutional duties of government, FGCKOSA argues.
This case tests whether public assets can be quietly handed to private interests. The court's decision will likely affect how future development deals at government schools proceed.
