The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has firmly denied reports alleging that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, allocated 2,082 hectares of land in the upscale districts of Maitama and Asokoro to one of his sons.
The denial was issued in a press statement on Thursday, June 26, 2025, by Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister. He described the report as a “malicious falsehood” and the work of “quack journalists whose stock-in-trade is to malign public officials.”
Olayinka dismissed the story as entirely baseless, noting that it was “another falsehood from the vault of those whose main job is to defame the FCT Minister.” He challenged the publishers of the report to produce evidence linking any land allocation document to the Minister’s children.
“Not even a single plot of land has been allocated to any of the Minister’s children,” Olayinka stated. “In Asokoro and Maitama of today, where can the FCT Minister see 2,082 hectares of land to allocate to anyone? Only quack journalists will go to town with such a ridiculous story.”
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The statement clarified that the only land allocation mentioned in the publication was a Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) granted to JOAQ Farms and Estate Limited, a duly registered Nigerian company. According to Olayinka, the land, located in Bwari Area Council, was allocated strictly for agricultural purposes.
“What’s wrong with a farmer getting land allocation for agriculture?” he queried, reaffirming that the allocation had no connection to the Minister’s family.
Olayinka emphasized that although it is the constitutional right of any Nigerian, including public officials and their family members, to acquire land in any part of the country provided due process is followed, “no land has been allocated to any of Wike’s children in the FCT.”
The controversial report, which has been circulating online, claimed that the Minister allocated over 2,000 hectares of prime land to his son, sparking public outrage and questions about transparency in land administration under Wike’s leadership.
However, the FCTA’s response has sought to quell the rumors and underscore the need for factual, professional journalism, especially in politically sensitive matters.
