Public affairs analyst and veteran journalist Dele Fanimo has questioned the circumstances surrounding the controversial 60-hectare Abuja land transaction currently before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, amid allegations involving Jordan Ezenwo Nyesom-Wike, son of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
“How did a young lawyer acquire 60 hectares of land?” Fanimo asked while questioning the circumstances surrounding the transaction.
The question comes amid growing public attention surrounding an ongoing $2.1 million civil dispute before the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, involving Jordan Wike and two claimants seeking redress over an alleged failed land transaction.
However, the case before the court does not presently establish that Jordan Wike personally acquired or owned the 60 hectares of land.
Rather, the claimants allege that they approached Jordan to help facilitate their acquisition of a combined 60 hectares of land in Abuja — 30 hectares in Katampe and another 30 hectares in Guzape.
Jordan has denied involvement in the alleged transaction.
The case, Suit No. CV/008/2026, was instituted by Safwan Garba GY and GY Global Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited and is being heard by Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the FCT High Court in Maitama.
According to the claimants, they approached Jordan concerning the proposed acquisition of the two parcels of land.
They allege that Jordan demanded $2.1 million in connection with facilitating the transaction.
The claimants further allege that $2 million was purportedly intended for FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, while the remaining $100,000 was allegedly Jordan's personal facilitation fee.
Those claims remain allegations before the court.
Neither Jordan nor his father has been judicially found to have received the alleged money.
Jordan has denied receiving the $2.1 million, denied entering into the alleged land transaction and challenged documents presented in support of the claimants' case.
According to the claimants, the disputed payment was allegedly made on September 26, 2025, at a property in Gwarinpa, Abuja.
They allege that three individuals identified as Adamu Sani, Aliyu Sarki and Sai Wani were present when the money was handed over.
They also allege that an individual identified as Onor Sandy was with Jordan during the purported transaction.
Jordan has rejected that account.
While testifying before the court, he said he did not receive money from the claimants and did not sign any document relating to the alleged land transaction.
He also denied knowing an individual named Onor Sandy.
A major point of dispute concerns Jordan's whereabouts on September 26, 2025, the date the claimants say the money was delivered.
Jordan told the court that he was outside Nigeria on that date.
During cross-examination, he said he had travelled using his American passport and could produce the document if required.
The claimants subsequently asked the court to order Jordan to produce the passport.
Justice Oriji granted the request.
The court had also ordered Jordan to write his full name and signature five times on a plain sheet of paper after questions arose concerning the authenticity of a signature appearing on documents connected with the alleged transaction.
Jordan subsequently produced his American passport before the court.
The document was admitted in evidence, a copy was made and the original returned to him.
The judge directed Jordan's lawyer, Chief Ogwu Onoja, SAN, to ensure that the original passport remained available whenever required during the proceedings.
Jordan maintains that the signature attributed to him on documents relating to the disputed transaction was forged.
He has also denied knowing the claimants or entering into the alleged agreement.
The claimants, however, maintain that the transaction occurred and that despite paying the alleged $2.1 million, the proposed acquisition of the 60 hectares was never completed and their money was not refunded.
The dispute has subsequently attracted attention beyond the courtroom.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to independently investigate the allegations.
HURIWA said the allegations were significant because of the amount involved and because the claimants alleged that $2 million of the disputed payment was intended for the serving FCT Minister.
The organisation stressed, however, that it was not declaring Jordan Wike or Nyesom Wike guilty.
Instead, it called on anti-corruption agencies to establish whether money changed hands, determine its source and destination and establish whether any public official was involved.
The court itself has made no finding that fraud occurred.
It has also not established that Jordan received $2.1 million or that Nyesom Wike was entitled to or received the alleged $2 million attributed to him by the claimants.
Those issues remain contested allegations in an ongoing civil proceeding.
Fanimo's question consequently enters a wider public discussion surrounding the transaction.
However, the distinction between what has been alleged and what has been established remains important.
The 60 hectares at the centre of the dispute comprise two proposed parcels — 30 hectares in Katampe and 30 hectares in Guzape.
The claimants' case is that they sought Jordan's assistance to acquire those parcels.
It has not been established by the court that Jordan himself owned, acquired or had legal title to the entire 60 hectares.
The dispute instead concerns the claimants' allegation that Jordan represented himself as capable of facilitating their acquisition of the land in exchange for the disputed $2.1 million payment.
Jordan's defence is fundamentally different.
He says there was no such transaction, that he received no money, that he did not sign the disputed documents and that he was outside Nigeria on the date the claimants allege the payment occurred.
His production of his American passport followed his testimony concerning that travel claim, and the passport now forms part of the evidence before the court.
Further hearings in the case have been scheduled for December 1, 2 and 14, 2026.
Until the court determines the evidence, the allegations concerning the $2.1 million payment, Jordan's alleged role in facilitating the land transaction and the claim that $2 million was intended for his father remain disputed.
Fanimo's question nevertheless reflects the growing public interest surrounding the scale of the proposed land transaction and the circumstances through which the claimants say they expected to obtain the properties.
For now, the central issue before the court is not simply how 60 hectares of valuable Abuja land could be acquired, but whether the transaction described by the claimants occurred at all, whether the alleged $2.1 million changed hands, and whether the documents relied upon in support of those allegations are authentic.
Those are matters Justice Oriji's court has yet to determine.
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