The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has again insisted that no land has been allocated to any of his children in Abuja, dismissing recent claims as baseless and politically motivated.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, described the allegations as another failed attempt at blackmail.
“As usual, this sponsored blackmail has failed,” Olayinka stated.
According to Olayinka, the claims that Wike’s children were beneficiaries of land allocations in the FCT are false. He stressed that despite the rights of every Nigerian—including the Minister’s children, friends, and relatives—to own land once due process is followed, no such allocation had been made to Wike’s children.
“Even though, like other Nigerians, it is the rights of children of the Minister, his friends, associates, and relatives to own lands anywhere in the country, including the FCT, provided all necessary conditions are met, as at today, no land has been allocated to any of the Minister’s children,” he said.
Olayinka noted that last week, those behind the smear campaign alleged that 2,082 hectares of land in Asokoro and Maitama were allocated to one of Wike’s sons, despite such land not existing in the two districts combined. This week, he said, they fabricated a story linking another son to Jordan Farms because of the company’s name.
“That one of the sons of the FCT Minister is Jordan and there is a company, Jordan Farms and Estates Limited, is no reason anyone should conclude that the company belongs to Wike’s son,” Olayinka explained.
“No doubt, land was duly allocated to Jordan Farms and Estates Limited, a company duly registered in Nigeria, with none of the children of the FCT Minister as director of the company. Records of ownership of the company are available at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and we challenge purveyors of these stories to publish names of the company owners.”
Olayinka further ridiculed the logic behind the claims:
“For instance, my name is Lere Olayinka, and there is Lere Local Government in Kaduna State. Do I own the Local Government? Am I even from Kaduna State?”
Regarding documents bearing the name of one of Wike’s security aides, he said:
“If I choose to assist my friend, associate, or relative to collect property documents, does that confer ownership of the property on me?”
He concluded by accusing political detractors of orchestrating the false claims in retaliation for Wike’s support for power rotation between the North and South:
“Let that fellow from Adamawa State, who is struggling to get at the FCT Minister for supporting power rotation, put more efforts. This one too has failed even before its commencement.”