Amid the protracted legal battle over the ownership and development rights of River Park Estate in Abuja, fresh evidence has raised serious questions about the neutrality of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, despite his repeated public claims of impartiality.
The controversy stem from the minister’s public pronouncements and executive actions on a matter that is currently before the courts. Critics argued that his continued commentary and interventions risk undermining due process and institutional integrity.
On September 18, 2025, Minister Wike stated during a live national television interview that Ghanaian businessman, Sir Sam Esson Jonah, was the owner and controlling mind of JonahCapital Nigeria Limited (JCNL), the company with development rights over the 500-hectare River Park Estate. That assertion, however, is at odds with official records from Nigerian regulatory and security institutions.
On December 9, 2025, the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, formally confirmed that Dr. Adeniran Ogunmuyiwa and his wife are the majority shareholders in JCNL, holding a combined 60 per cent equity and serving as the company’s only directors. Sir Sam Jonah, according to the CAC, holds a 40 per cent minority stake and is not a member of the board.
This ownership structure was not newly discovered. Earlier, on September 2, 2025, an FCT Ministerial Committee established by Minister Wike himself to investigate a petition written by Sir Jonah’s lawyer, Mr. Sunday I. Ameh, SAN, presented the same findings to the minister. The presentation, which was recorded and publicly circulated, clearly affirmed Nigerian majority ownership of the company.
Despite the committee’s report, Minister Wike proceeded days later to publicly endorse a position that effectively disregarded the interests of the Nigerian majority shareholders.
In September 2025, the FCT Administration announced the termination of an 18-year Development Lease Agreement executed between Dr. Ogunmuyiwa and a former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. The decision included a directive for the return of up to 20 per cent of undeveloped or partially developed land to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA). This move was swiftly followed by demolition activities at River Park Estate, reportedly carried out without prior notice and affecting several structures, including a cancer care hospital under construction.
The demolitions were halted after the intervention of the High Court. Justice Mohammed Zubairu, while conducting a judicial review of the ministerial committee’s actions, ordered all parties to maintain the status quo and cautioned against any form of self-help. The court has fixed January 2026 for the next hearing.
Minister Wike’s position has also conflicted with findings by the Nigeria Police Force. In September 2024, Sir Sam Jonah petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), alleging land grabbing and harassment by developers at River Park Estate. The IGP directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Akin Fakorede, head of the IGP Monitoring Unit and a forensic specialist, to investigate the claims.
According to the police report, documents submitted by Jonah and his associates were found to be forged, and attempts were allegedly made to manipulate CAC records, including misrepresentations concerning nationality an issue with significant legal implications under the Land Use Act, which restricts foreign ownership of large tracts of land. Criminal charges were subsequently filed against Jonah and others. Although the report was submitted to the ministerial committee, Minister Wike publicly rejected its findings and criticised DCP Fakorede during a televised address, referencing past personal grievances unrelated to the investigation.
Observers have also pointed to the minister’s professional proximity to Mr. Sunday I. Ameh, SAN, who authored Jonah’s petition. Ameh has acknowledged working intermittently with the FCDA, though he has denied any conflict of interest. Nonetheless, the relationship has raised questions about perceptions of neutrality in a dispute requiring scrupulous objectivity.
Others suggest that the termination of the development agreement may have been influenced by the prospect of reclaiming up to 100 hectares of land for the FCT, an outcome with significant financial and political implications.
Taken together, the minister’s public statements, rejection of institutional findings—including those of his own committee—and executive actions now under judicial review have fueled debate over whether he has acted as an impartial regulator or as an interested party in the dispute.
As the matter awaits determination by the courts, legal observers argue that restraint would best serve the interests of justice and the credibility of Nigeria’s land administration system. In disputes of this magnitude, they note, the appearance of bias can be as damaging as bias itself.
