The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has refuted online reports alleging that he allocated over 2,000 hectares of land in the Maitama and Asokoro districts of Abuja to his son.
A recent online publication claimed that Wike secretly awarded 2,082 hectares of prime land in the high-end districts to his son, citing a Right of Occupancy issued in the name of JOAQ Farms and Estate Limited—a company the report linked to the Wike family. The article suggested that land designated for agricultural use was being misappropriated for personal benefit.
In response, the Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, dismissed the claims as “baseless falsehoods” aimed at tarnishing Wike’s image.
“No plot of land—let alone 2,000 hectares—has been allocated to any of the Minister’s children,” Olayinka stated in a press release on Thursday. He questioned the credibility of the report and those behind it, accusing them of spreading misinformation without journalistic integrity.
“In today’s Asokoro and Maitama, where is the FCT Minister supposed to find 2,082 hectares to allocate?” he asked. “Only untrained journalists could publish such an implausible story, which is why we keep calling for professionalism in the media.”
Olayinka further clarified that the only land allocation referenced—a Right of Occupancy issued to JOAQ Farms and Estate Limited—was for agricultural purposes in the Bwari Area Council, not Maitama or Asokoro. He emphasized that the company is legally registered and entitled to such land for farming.
He added that the Minister and his family, like any Nigerian citizen, are legally allowed to own land within the FCT as long as they follow due process—but no such allocation has been made to Wike’s children.
Calling the report entirely false and misleading, Olayinka urged the public to disregard it.
