How Wike slashed son’s N200m FCT land bill to N2m – Senator Kingibe

Ireti Kingibe, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory in the National Assembly, has levelled serious allegations against the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, accusing him of abusing his office in the handling of land allocations in Abuja.

During an interview with Arise Television, Kingibe claimed the minister drastically reduced a N200 million land fee—allegedly meant for his son—to just N2 million. She described the move as unethical and a clear abuse of power.

“I have documents to show that Minister Wike allocated lands to his son, huge tracts of land, as he says, as his son they are entitled to lands but the bills of N200 million that they need to pay, a hundred million that they need to pay elsewhere, they wrote to him asking that he should give a waiver on the bill and reduce it,” Kingibe said.”Within 48 hours, they are going from N200 million to N2 million. At the very least, it is unfair, it is unethical.”

The senator said she intends to formally present the documents to relevant authorities and pursue further action.

“Oh, I’m going to take those documents and go to the body, the equivalent of his state assembly, and insist that that assembly, the president from whom Wike derives his powers, goes back to the National Assembly for approval for everything,” she vowed.

Kingibe went further to accuse Wike of operating in a dictatorial manner, ignoring legal frameworks and the rule of law in his management of the capital territory.

“The primary thing is that the minister doesn’t obey the rule of law. He’s autocratic. He doesn’t follow any rules or any laws,” she alleged. “And when you try to draw his attention that governance is based on laws, the rule of law, he doesn’t accept that.”

According to the senator, Wike has reinstated some agencies without consulting or obtaining clearance from the National Assembly. She also raised alarm over the revocation of a large portion of land originally allocated to the University of Abuja.

“Abuja University had approximately 11,000 hectares. Minister Wike has revoked 7,000 of it and left them with four. It is definitely against the Land Use Act for you to take land from institutions to give them to individuals,” she said.

Kingibe also criticised the minister for terminating the services of local women who had been employed as street cleaners in Abuja, saying the city has become noticeably dirtier as a result.

“Every minister has come and found the streets being cleaned by indigent women… He comes, he’s fired them all… Then he doesn’t replace them with mechanical street sweepers. So Abuja is looking dirty.”

She accused Wike of harassing both residents and diplomatic missions over ground rent payments.”Minister Wike has been harassing all of FCT over ground rent, including embassies,” she added.

Earlier,  a report by The Peoples Gazette, alleged that Wike had signed off over 2,000 hectares of valuable Abuja land to his son, Joaquin Wike, since assuming office in August 2023.

According to the report, the land parcels are located in some of the capital’s most elite districts—Maitama, Asokoro, Guzape, Bwari, and Gaduwa—and are collectively estimated to be worth about $3.6 billion.

The report also claimed that the minister bypassed standard regulations and failed to remit required fees in the process, raising serious concerns about transparency and adherence to civil service protocols.

(SAHARA REPORTERS)