Wike’s Aide Dodges Response As Journalist Demands Answer Over Minister’s “Looting” Of Abuja Lands
Arise Television ournalist, Rufai Oseni, has taken to social media to challenge officials of the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, to defend him over revelations that the minister has been using Abuja’s prime lands as political favours, allocating them to family members, relatives, close associates—and most recently, handing a prized portion of the city centre to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) without statutory payments that would have run into billions of naira.
Mr Oseni, in a series of posts on his Facebook handle on Saturday, dared the minister’s aides to publicly address Peoples Gazette’s exclusive report, which uncovered how Mr Wike allocated a two-hectare portion of Abuja’s historic Old Parade Ground to the APC at no cost.
“Since the revelation of the land allocation story by the FCT minister, his media aide has been quiet,” Mr Oseni wrote. “I challenge his media handlers to come react to the story. I am ready to give them a platform.”
His challenge drew a response from Lere Olayinka, a spokesperson for Mr Wike, who dismissed the journalist rather than address the damning allegations.
“I don’t react to someone who should be in Arise News, producing documentary on animals,” Mr Olayinka sneered. “Besides, which platform will you give me? Are you the owner of Arise News? Rest.”
Unimpressed, Mr Oseni pressed further, insisting that evasion was no substitute for accountability. “Isn’t it shocking that Lere Olayinka can’t defend his boss on these allegations of land allocation?” he asked. “Lere, where is your tongue? Respond to the allegations and defend your boss. It’s crystal clear you have no defence. The facts are there, kindly respond. The world is watching.”
The exchange underscored the silence that has trailed The Gazette’s August 22 report, which detailed how Mr Wike excised a portion of the Old Parade Ground—one of Abuja’s oldest civic landmarks—and allocated it to the APC in a single-day transaction.
Ordinarily, such a process requires months of bureaucratic back-and-forth and upfront payment of statutory fees, including premiums, processing charges, infrastructure levies and certificate of occupancy costs. In this case, however, all payments were waived, and both the right of occupancy and certificate of occupancy were issued on the same day—August 8, 2025—granting the APC a 99-year lease without a kobo exchanged.
Documents obtained by The Gazette indicated that the land premium was assessed at ₦6,000 per square metre, bringing the base cost to ₦120.6 million for the 20,100 square metres carved out for the ruling party. Officials confirmed that when the additional levies and statutory fees usually.
Instead, the minister signed off the allocation to his political allies at no charge, effectively converting a nationally revered public square—host to independence parades, political rallies, concerts, and cultural festivals—into partisan property.
“The minister is defacing Abuja’s foundational design for his personal and political journey,” a senior FCTA official told The Gazette. “A lot of what he has done will need to be reversed by his successor for the sake of our country.”
Mr Oseni harped on this revelation to pile pressure on Mr Wike’s camp, declaring that the minister’s spokesperson had resorted to personal insults because he could not explain away the looting of public assets.
“I thought you would kindly speak to the allegations rather than deflect,” the journalist fired back at Mr Olayinka.
Despite repeated attempts, Mr Olayinka did not provide a substantive defence of his principal. Phone calls and messages to him from The Gazette over the past week have also gone unanswered.
APC’s national publicity secretary, Bala Ibrahim, however, admitted the allocation but insisted there was “nothing wrong” with the ruling party receiving the land for free. Asked to cite examples of similar concessions made to other political parties, Mr Ibrahim could not provide any.
Mr Wike has made land allocation one of his most potent political weapons since assuming office in 2023. He has revoked approvals for opposition figures while doling out choice parcels to allies, family members and now, the ruling party. Early this year, the minister revoked the Peoples Democratic Party’s land allocation in Abuja.
Credit: Peoples Gazette
