Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has categorically denied allegations that the minister allocated 2,082 hectares of land in Maitama and Asokoro to one of his sons.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Olayinka described the report as a “tissue of lies” and a “malicious falsehood” spread by individuals allegedly intent on tarnishing the minister’s image.
“Not even a single plot of land has been allocated to any of the Minister’s children,” Olayinka asserted. “In Asokoro and Maitama of today, where can the FCT Minister see 2,082 hectares of land to allocate to anyone?”
He challenged the publishers of the report to produce verifiable evidence of such land allocations, emphasizing that no documentation exists linking any of the minister’s children to land in those upscale districts.
Olayinka clarified that a Right of Occupancy was indeed issued to JOAQ Farms and Estate Limited, a legally registered Nigerian company, for agricultural purposes in Bwari Area Council—not in Asokoro or Maitama.
“So what is wrong with a farmer getting land allocation strictly for the purpose of agriculture?” he asked.
He further stated that while it is within the legal rights of the minister or his family to own land anywhere in Nigeria, no such allocation has been made to any of Wike’s children.
“The publication claiming that the FCT Minister allocated 2,082 hectares of land to his son is false and should be disregarded,” he concluded.
