By Ayo Kehinde
The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, has accused the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, of illegally granting massive land allocation waivers to his sons, drastically reducing their fees from N200 million to N2 million within 48 hours.
Kingibe made the claims during an interview on Arise TV, a clip of which has since gone viral.
She described the minister’s actions as unethical and unfair, insisting that she had obtained documented evidence to support her allegations.
“I have documents to show that Wike allocated land to his sons, huge tracts of land. Fine, they may be entitled to land.
“But I have documented bills of N200 million, N100 million. They wrote to him, asking for a waiver. Within 48 hours, the payments were reduced to N2 million. This is not only illegal; it is deeply unfair,” she said.
The senator added that she intends to present the documents before the National Assembly to demand accountability from the minister.
Kingibe also alleged that Wike revoked land earlier allocated for a government hospital in Bwari, with plans to replace the facility with a market or shopping mall.
Reacting through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the FCT Minister dismissed the senator’s claims and launched a personal attack on her.
“Responsible people don’t go on national TV to claim they have evidence of corruption—they release the evidence and forward it to the relevant agencies,” Olayinka said.
He described Kingibe as an “accidental senator impersonating by bearing the name of a man she’s no longer married to,” and dared her to publicly present the documents.
“She should know that the Senate seat she got by accident in 2023 won’t be retained in 2027 using Wike as a launchpad. The earlier she accepts this, the better,” he added.
Earlier reports had alleged that Wike, through a firm named JOAQ Farms and Estates Limited, allocated 2,082 hectares of land to his second son, Joaquin, and another 1,740 hectares to his other son, Jordan, amounting to 3,822 hectares allegedly valued at $6.45 billion.
Responding to the claims, Wike said: “Assuming—though not conceding, that my children applied for land, are they not Nigerians? Are they Ghanaians? Even if they applied, does my position as Minister disqualify them from entitlement to land?”
He also challenged the accuracy of the figures being circulated.
“First, calculate the total land area in Maitama and Asokoro and tell me where you’ll find 2,000 hectares. It’s impossible. I know where this story is coming from—Adamawa State. The whole thing is rubbish. Bring the documents. Bring empirical evidence,” Wike said.
