A civil society organisation, the Centre for Democratic Integrity and Leadership has accused political enemies of orchestrating a smear campaign against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over fresh allegations of illegal land allocations to his children.
The group’s position follows Wike’s latest denial of claims linking him to controversial land deals, which he described as baseless and politically motivated attempts to derail his reforms in Abuja.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the minister dismissed the allegations as baseless and mischievous.
Responding to allegations of another purported allocation of lands to another son, Olayinka accused unnamed political actors of orchestrating a smear campaign against the minister, adding that such efforts would not derail Wike’s ongoing developmental initiatives under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
“As usual, this sponsored blackmail has failed. Those seeking to blackmail the FCT minister will need to put in more effort.
“Nothing will stop him from continuing with his developmental efforts in the FCT in accordance with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda,” he added.
The media aide argued that the previous report alleging the allocation of 2,082 hectares of land had no solid evidence, stating that everyone, including the minister’s children, has a constitutional right to own property anywhere in the country if they meet legal requirements.
“Last week, it was unfounded and poorly carried out propaganda of Wike allocating 2,082 hectares of land in Asokoro and Maitama to one of his sons, even when no such land is available in the two districts combined.
“They used a document showing the allocation of land for farming in Bwari Area Council to a company, JOAQ Farms, to justify the falsehood.
“This week, there are tales of allocation of land to another son of the minister because documents showed allocation of lands to a company, Jordan Farms.
“Even though like other Nigerians, it is the rights of children of the minister, his friends, associates and relatives to own lands anywhere in the country, including the FCT, provided all necessary conditions are met, as of today, no land has been allocated to any of the minister’s children,” he said.
He further clarified that although land was indeed allocated to Jordan Farms and Estates Limited, the company is a legally registered Nigerian entity with no ties to any of the minister’s children.
“No doubt, the land was duly allocated to Jordan Farms and Estates Limited, a company duly registered in Nigeria, with none of the children of the FCT minister as director of the company.
“That one of the sons of the FCT minister is Jordan and there is a company, Jordan Farms and Estates Limited is no reason anyone should conclude that the company belongs to Wike’s son.
“Records of ownership of the company are available at the Corporate Affairs Commission and we challenge purveyors of these stories to publish names of the company owners,” he said.
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