By 247ureports.com
A lawyer for the claimants in the $2.1 million land suit against Jordan Wike, son of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, says Jordan received and acknowledged a part payment from his business partner for a land transaction involving plots in Guzape and Katampe, and later changed his account and denied that any such transaction took place. Jordan denies the allegation, and the case has been adjourned to December 1, 2 and 14, 2026.
According to the claimants’ lawyer, the money was paid in cash in the presence of two witnesses. The claimants, Safwan Garba GY and his company GY Global Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited, say in court papers that the cash was delivered on September 26, 2025, at a residence in Gwarinpa, Abuja. They say Jordan told them the $2.1 million was a facilitation fee, with $2 million for his father and $100,000 for himself, in connection with a joint venture to build duplexes on land at Guzape and Katampe. The papers describe the land variously as two 30-hectare tracts and as plots of about 1.7 and 1.5 hectares for the construction project, and the claimants say Garba was to put up $4.2 million for construction. They want a refund of the $2.1 million with interest, N100 million in damages and the costs of the suit.
Jordan told the court during cross-examination on September 30 that he did not receive any money, did not sign any document for a land deal and was outside Nigeria on September 26, 2025, travelling on his American passport. He said the signature on the disputed document was forged and that he did not know a man the claimants named as a witness to the payment. Asked whether he reported the alleged forgery to the police, he said no. The court, presided over by Justice Sylvanus Oriji at the FCT High Court in Maitama, ordered him to produce the passport, and he supplied a photocopy with an undertaking to produce the original when required.
The dispute has also moved beyond the civil case. A lawyer for the claimants, Ibrahim Waru, has asked the FCT Chief Judge to transfer the suit from Justice Oriji to another judge, citing the appearance of possible bias, and the claimants have petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged fraud, obtaining money by false pretence and criminal misappropriation. Another claimant lawyer, Hamza Dantani, wrote to the EFCC chairman saying eight to nine months had passed without a meaningful update on the petition. Neither the EFCC nor Justice Oriji had responded publicly to those requests at the time of this report.
None of the allegations has been proved, and the court has made no finding on them. The next hearing dates are December 1, 2 and 14.
