The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has clarified that Wadata Plaza, which currently houses the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), isn’t owned by the party, but by Senator Samaila Mamman.
Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media to the minister, Lere Olayinka, clarified this during an interview on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on March 25, 2025.
Olayinka emphasized that many party members were unaware of this ownership detail and expressed his surprise, having only learned it two weeks before the revocation order.
He clarified that despite the long-standing belief that Wadata Plaza served as the PDP’s headquarters, the party had never completed the purchase process for the property.
The FCT minister’s recent decision to revoke the land titles for both Wadata Plaza and the PDP’s uncompleted national secretariat has stirred controversy, with PDP leaders alleging that the revocation is a politically motivated move by President Bola Tinubu’s administration aimed at undermining opposition parties.
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Defending the revocation, Olayinka explained that the PDP failed to meet its financial obligations in 2005 when it sought to buy Wadata Plaza.
At that time, the party wrote to the then FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai, requesting consent for the purchase and was informed that they needed to pay a fee of N26.9 million.
Olayinka noted that even during its time in power, the PDP claimed the amount was excessive, leading to the failure to acquire the property.
“The Chairman of PDP then, Vincent Ogbulafor, wrote to the FCT minister saying that money is too much.
“Imagine PDP at that time, the party in power, saying it does not have N26 million to pay, and El-Rufai insisted that the PDP must do the right thing, just as Wike is doing now,” he added.
With the revocation, Wadata Plaza is now fully back under the ownership of Sen. Mamman.
