The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has denied allegations that he allocated over 2,000 hectares of land in some of Abuja’s most exclusive districts—Maitama and Asokoro—to his son, Joaquin Wike.
The allegations, initially reported by Peoples Gazette, claim that Wike secretly allocated 2,082 hectares of land to a company, JOAQ Farms and Estates Limited, purportedly linked to his family. The report estimated the total value of the land to be around $3.6 billion, citing official records and property market data.
According to the report, the allocations were made between October 2024 and May 2025 and included plots in high-value districts like Maitama, Asokoro, Guzape, and developing areas such as Bwari, Kwaita, and Gaduwa. Documents obtained by The Peoples Gazette reportedly show Wike issued multiple Certificates of Occupancy to the company shortly after its registration in October 2024.
The publication alleges that Wike bypassed mandatory fees—such as ground rent and survey costs—and reallocated federal property, including land originally designated for the Austrian mission in Nigeria, to himself and his son.
In response, the Minister’s office firmly denied the claims. In a statement on Thursday, Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, described the allegations as “malicious falsehoods” spread by “quack journalists” with an agenda to defame the minister.
“Not even a single plot has been allocated to any of the minister’s children,” Olayinka stated, questioning the plausibility of finding over 2,000 hectares of land in Maitama and Asokoro for such purposes.
He acknowledged that JOAQ Farms and Estates Limited received land for agricultural use—but in Bwari Area Council, not the city’s core districts. “So what’s wrong with a farmer getting land allocation strictly for agriculture?” he asked, dismissing the allegations as lacking substance.
Olayinka emphasized that any land acquired by the minister or his family would be lawful, provided all legal conditions are met. He further criticized the report for failing to meet journalistic standards and called on the public to disregard the publication.
Despite these denials, Peoples Gazette claims it has reviewed a broad set of documents showing a pattern of self-dealing and systemic allocation of public assets to Wike’s family. The report includes testimony from anonymous officials within the FCT Ministry, who claim that Wike openly expressed his intention to make his children “the largest landowners in Abuja.”
According to the report, Wike ignored internal warnings and pushed forward with allocations, allegedly prioritizing his family’s holdings while key FCTA departments, such as environmental services and public broadcasting, reportedly went months without salary disbursements.
Critics argue that while existing land regulations do not explicitly ban a minister from allocating land to family members, Wike’s actions may breach public service ethics outlined in the Nigerian Constitution’s Code of Conduct for public officers.
Joaquin Wike, the youngest of the minister’s two sons, has maintained a low public profile since finishing secondary school in 2020 but has recently appeared more frequently at public functions alongside his father.
Wike, who served as Governor of Rivers State from 2015 to 2023, became FCT Minister in August 2023. His political trajectory has remained controversial, with many accusing him of undermining his former party, the PDP, to support President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.
As scrutiny of Abuja land allocations intensifies, Peoples Gazette has indicated it is still investigating additional documents and is likely to release further findings in the coming weeks.
