Senator Kingibe Accuses Minister Wike of Slashing Son’s ₦200M Land Bill to ₦2M
Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has lodged serious allegations against FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, accusing him of gross abuse of office. She claims that Wike unilaterally reduced a ₦200 million land allocation fee for his son to just ₦2 million within 48 hours; a move she described as unethical, unfair, and illegal.
- Kingibe revealed she has documentary evidence indicating that Wike authorized the allocation of prime Abuja land to his son, Joaquin Wike, and then slashed the bill from ₦200 million down to ₦2 million in an apparent misuse of power.
- She pledges to forward the documents to Nigeria’s equivalent of a state assembly and demand further investigation, emphasizing that Wike has acted without legal oversight or National Assembly approval.
Kingibe further accused Wike of arbitrarily revoking land meant for public institutions, such as the University of Abuja, reducing its holdings from approximately 11,000 hectares to just four. She described this as a clear violation of the Land Use Act.
She condemned FCTA’s widespread sealing of private properties over unpaid ground rent, calling it unconstitutional and economically harmful. She reiterated that such enforcement should involve fines or surcharges not land seizures.
According to Kingibe, Wike operates with impunity overstepping legal boundaries, reinstating agencies without legislative backing, and denying accountability over internally generated revenue and treasury operations. She emphasized that officials cannot derive more power than the presidency empowers them with and urged legislative oversight.
In response, Wike’s spokesman, Lere Olayinka, described Kingibe’s allegations as uninformed and a display of legal ignorance. He pointed to Section 28 of the Land Use Act, which he claims grants the minister legal authority to revoke land when landowners default on ground rent. He also accused Kingibe of failing to manage her constituency funds and owe staff salaries, a claim meant to discredit her credibility.
