The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is the one behind recent claims that he gave out plots of land in Abuja to his children.
Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, released a statement denying the allegations, calling them a form of cheap blackmail.
Olayinka explained that the story was false and politically motivated. He made it clear that none of Wike’s children had been given any land in Abuja.
In what seemed to be a reference to Atiku, the statement said the person behind the attack was only trying to get back at Wike for supporting the idea of rotating political power between the North and South. It claimed the plot had already failed.
The statement also said that no kind of blackmail would stop Wike from doing his work in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the country.
Olayinka gave an example of how a fake story was spread last week about Wike giving over 2,000 hectares of land in Maitama and Asokoro to one of his sons. He pointed out that the claim was baseless since no such land exists in those areas. The documents used to spread the rumor were actually for farmland in Bwari Area Council, linked to a company called JOAQ Farms.
He said that this week, the story changed again—this time linking another company, Jordan Farms, to one of Wike’s sons.
Even though it’s legal for Wike’s children, like any Nigerian citizen, to own land in the country as long as rules are followed, Olayinka confirmed that none of them have been given any land in Abuja.
He stated clearly that the land in question was given to Jordan Farms and Estates Limited—a legally registered company in Nigeria. None of Wike’s children are listed as directors of the company.
The statement addressed the coincidence that one of Wike’s sons is named Jordan, which does not mean he owns the company. Olayinka challenged those spreading the story to publish the official names of the company’s owners, which can be found at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
To make his point clearer, Olayinka said, “My name is Lere Olayinka and there’s a local government named Lere in Kaduna. That doesn’t mean I own it, and I’m not even from Kaduna.”
He added that there are many companies with the name “Jordan” in them—like Jordan Telecommunications and Jordan Foods—and this doesn’t mean they belong to Wike’s son either.
Olayinka also mentioned that there is a Jordan’s Farms in the UK. Just because the name is the same doesn’t mean it has any link to Wike’s family.
Finally, he questioned the use of a document that carried the name and signature of one of Wike’s security aides. He said people should ask who really owns the company, Hyper Communications Limited. Helping a friend collect property documents does not mean you own the property, he concluded.
