The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lere Olayinka, has dismissed fresh allegations linking Nyesom Wike’s children to land allocations in Abuja.
Media reports surfaced on Tuesday, July 1 that Jordan Wike, the 25-year-old son of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, was allegedly allocated at least 1,740 hectares of land in Abuja, valued at roughly $2.85 billion, by his father’s office.
This mirrors a previous report which also alleged that his younger brother, Joaquin Wike, received 2,082 hectares worth $3.6 billion.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Olayinka described the claims as “sponsored blackmail” and said they were part of a sustained campaign to smear the image of the FCT Minister.
“As usual, this sponsored blackmail has failed,” he stated, adding that “nothing will stop him from continuing with his developmental efforts in the FCT in accordance with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.”
Olayinka said the latest round of allegations followed a familiar pattern.
“Last week, it was unfounded and poorly carried out propaganda of Wike allocating 2,082 hectares of land in Asokoro and Maitama to one of his sons, even when no such land is available in the two districts combined.
“They used a document showing allocation of land for farming in Bwari Area Council to a company, JOAQ Farms to justify the falsehood,” he said.
According to him, the controversy had now shifted to a new target. “This week, it is tales of allocation of land to another son of the Minister because documents showed allocation of lands to a company, Jordan Farms,” he added.
He stressed that “no land has been allocated to any of the Minister’s children,” despite claims to the contrary.
“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 stated.
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Olayinka clarified that the company in question, Jordan Farms and Estates Limited, is a properly registered business in Nigeria.
“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,” he said.
He argued that drawing conclusions based on the company’s name was misguided.
“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,” he said.
“Records of ownership of the company is available at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and we challenge purveyors of these stories to publish names of the company owners,” he added.
Citing other examples, Olayinka said, “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? There are companies like Jordan Telecommunications, Jordan Foods, etc. Are they also owned by Wike’s son?”
He also questioned the logic behind another document reportedly bearing the signature of one of Wike’s security aides.
“If I choose to assist my friend, associate or relative to collect property documents, does that confer ownership of the property on me?” he asked.
Directly addressing political motives, Olayinka said, “Let that fellow from Adamawa State, who is struggling to get at the FCT Minister for supporting power rotation between the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria put more efforts. This is because, just like the one of last week, this one too has failed even before its commencement.”