A group of investors behind the Abuja Technology Village Free Trade Zone has taken the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to court over the revocation of land allocated for the project.
In a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja (FHC/ABJ/CS/1539/2025), the investors accused Wike of unlawfully cancelling the land title granted for the development of the Tech Village, a project located within the Abuja Free Trade Zone and backed by a presidential order.
The land revocation, they said, was communicated in a letter dated 13 May 2025. It cited non-payment of ground rent and underdevelopment of the area. But the investors say the decision came without prior notice or any official demand.
“This revocation emanated without any prior notice, warning and/or demand for compliance,” they said in court documents.
“Be that as it may, the grounds for revocation contravene section 8 of the NEPZA Act which explicitly exempts the Plaintiffs and the Abuja Technology Village Free Zone Company from such levies, taxes and rates.”
Through their legal representatives, M.J. Numa & Partners LLP, the investors argued that Wike acted beyond his constitutional powers by interfering in a zone regulated exclusively by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).
They asked the court to rule that only NEPZA, acting under the authority of the President and federal legislation, has the right to control free zones and the enterprises within them — not the FCT Administration.
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“That the Minister of FCT and FCTA acted ultra vires and unconstitutionally by issuing a revocation of their land rights, as operators in the zone, and subsequently reallocated the land to a third party without proper authority or NEPZA’s consent, making the actions null, void, and without legal effect,” the suit stated.
The investors are seeking an order to reverse the land revocation and reallocation. They also want a permanent injunction to stop the FCTA and its agencies from interfering in their operations, and for NEPZA to be compelled to defend their rights.
In a formal alert raised through NEPZA to the Presidency, the investors warned that the move threatens more than ₦978 billion already invested in the Abuja Free Trade Zone by both foreign and local players.
They described the Tech Village not just as a real estate project, but as a strategic national asset central to Nigeria’s ambition to become an innovation-driven, investment-friendly economy.
“The preservation of Free Trade Zone legal status is essential to the sustainability of the Free Zone Scheme nationwide,” they said.
They added that the zone currently hosts 29 licensed enterprises and is the site of a key electric vehicle and renewable energy manufacturing partnership involving three other countries.
Consequently, they warned that the land dispute could derail the multi-billion-naira project and damage Nigeria’s appeal to foreign investors under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.