Wike's multi-billion dollar land allocations to a 90-year-old father, siblings, cousins, nephews, and cronies in Abuja are revealed by leaked documents

 Wike's multi-billion dollar land allocations to a 90-year-old father, siblings, cousins, nephews, and cronies in Abuja are revealed by leaked documents

 

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In a shocking revelation, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has been accused of allocating prime Abuja lands to his family members and friends.

According to documents, cited by Peoples Gazette, Wike signed 33 approvals for land allocations to his family and friends, including his 90-year-old father, Joshua Nlemanya Wike, who received a plot of land in Guzape II worth N400 million.

The allocations, which were made on July 16, 2025, also included lands for Wike's paternal cousin, Believe Wike; nephew, Victor Wike; nephew, Henry Wike; and cousin, Enwusonye Promise Wike. Other beneficiaries included eight family members of James Hunwo, who received individual allocations on the same day.

This is not the first time Wike has been accused of allocating lands to his family members. In April 2025, six of his family members, including his brothers and sisters, were allocated lands in Guzape II.

The beneficiaries included Vincent Ejike Wike, Chidi Sam Wike, Chituru Wike, Christian Ibebulachi Wike, Collins Ngeme Wike, and Emmanuel Okanwene Wike.

According to the report, Vincent Wike received a right of occupancy for 2,200 square metres in Guzape II under file number RV62586; Chidi Wike received a right of occupancy for 2,195 square metres in Guzape II under file number RV62598; Chituru Wike received a right of occupancy for 2,158 square metres in Guzape II under file number RV62599; Christian Wike received a right of occupancy for 2,178 square metres in Guzape II under file number RV62603; Collins Wike received a right of occupancy for 2,813 square metres in Guzape II under file number RV62604; and Emmanuel Wike received a right of occupancy for 2,716 square metres in Guzape II under file number RV62605.

Wike's actions have raised concerns about his influence over President Bola Tinubu and the extent of his powers as FCT minister.

Insiders told Peoples Gazette that Wike has been boasting about his contribution to Tinubu's election and believes he is untouchable.

Aides said Mr Wike would regularly boast about how he contributed significantly to getting Mr Tinubu elected, a contribution the president would need again in 2027.

“He keeps reminding us of how he made heavy investment to help the president in 2023,” an official said. “He even said the president can’t do anything to him, and no judge in 2025 Nigeria would dare convict him of any stupid corruption.”

On July 2, SaharaReporters reported that Mairiga Hassan Shaharu, a staff member of the Abuja Geographic Information System, (AGIS), had been arrested by the police in Abuja amid a hunt for the source who linked information for Wike’s alleged theft of Abuja land for his children.

Shaharu, who works with the Fresh Applications Unit of AGIS, was arrested by a team of police detectives.

Shaharu’s department is responsible for processing new filings at AGIS, the agency that manages and verifies land ownership and asset records in the Federal Capital Territory.

Colleagues of Shaharu said they feared the minister would continue to “make mistakes” by targeting innocent low-to-mid-level officials who had no involvement in leaking the documents that revealed the scale of the minister’s alleged fraud.

Following the intervention of human rights activist Omoyele Sowore and a team of lawyers, he was eventually released after it was discovered that the detention warrant used to hold him had been forged.

According to a previous report by Peoples Gazette, officials also claimed the minister had become increasingly paranoid and has been drinking heavily since the reports were published.

“He’s confused and moving fast, which is why he keeps making mistakes,” an official informed on the minister’s activity told The Gazette.

“He’s been drinking even more heavily now and cursing at everybody, including his wife.”

Wike’s wife, Eberechi Suzette Nyesom-Wike, is a judge at the federal appellate court.

Documents obtained directly from the minister’s office and published on 26 June and 1 July revealed that at least 3,822 hectares of land, potentially worth $6.45 billion, were allocated by Mr Wike to his two sons, Jordan, 25, and Joaquin, 23.

The revelations have sparked widespread outrage, with the minister blaming political opponents for leaking the documents.

Some unrecognised groups have also appeared in the media defending Mr Wike, describing the reports as politically motivated.

According to documents, The Gazette cited, Mr Wike frequently gave verbal directives allowing officers to clear his family members and cronies for land grants without the requisite procedural rigour of payment of statutory bills for the allocations.

Some contemporaneous documentation of the minister’s approach to land administration appears to mirror how he has presented himself to the Nigerian public, a situation that has continued to alarm officials.

‘Harder than appears’

Mr Wike’s propensity for operating on the edges of acceptable norms, unmoored from constitutional guardrails, has continued to upset other senior administration officials, two of whom told The Gazette. However, they admitted that the situation was unique and harder to resolve than it appeared to everyday Nigerians.

“We know Nigerians are looking at this and they’re asking why the president cannot just sack a minister brutally undermining his government,” an official said. “But it is a complicated situation for those of us in the Villa.”

Mr Tinubu has struggled to gain public confidence because of the poor economy and insecurity, with a recent poll finding his approval rating among Nigerians in the 30s. The president would need to shore up his support to stand a good chance in 2027.

Aides said the president’s ability to improve his popularity before the elections might be frustrated by the emergence of the new African Democratic Congress coalition that emerged earlier this month. To fight the coalition with money and political vigour, a ruthless and deep-pocketed politician like Mr Wike would come in handy, aides said.

“The president did not ask Wike to make so much money from public lands as we’re witnessing now,” a second official said under anonymity over the weekend. “But some of that money can end up being invaluable to the success of our campaign for a second term.”

“The president is torn between sacking the minister now to see if that would improve his public perception going into the election, which is not guaranteed, or keeping him for his financial contribution and the capacity to mobilise during the election,” the official added.

The official stated that a panel constituted to investigate Mr Wike has yet to summon the minister, three weeks after it was first disclosed to The Gazette.

Mr Tinubu’s decision to keep Mr Wike in office could implicate the president in the minister’s corruption, which directly violates the Nigerian Constitution.

The Nigerian Constitution, Fifth Schedule, Part I, specifically criminalises Mr Wike’s conduct, which involves using his office to enrich himself and his family members, and prescribes removal and prosecution among the punishments.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga asked The Gazette to direct questions about Mr Wike’s conduct to the minister’s media aides. A spokesman for Mr Wike declined to comment for the story, but the minister has maintained no wrongdoing following previous revelations, falsely asserting that granting lands to his family members did not violate Nigerian laws.

While unable to take active measures, anti-corruption agencies EFCC and ICPC have continued to monitor the minister’s activity for now, The Gazette was told. Although the agencies are accorded noteworthy deference under the law, they’re part of the executive branch and, therefore, require the president’s approval to investigate, much less charge, a cabinet official.

The agencies’ spokespersons declined to comment.

Meanwhile, anti-corruption campaigners from the Human and Environmental Development Agenda have filed petitions with the ICPC to investigate Mr Wike’s acquisition of lands across the nation’s capital, describing it as “reckless abuse of office and primitive diversion and accumulation of public assets.”