Mr Lere Olayinka, aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has described the ongoing allegations of land allocation to the minister’s children in FCT as ‘sponsored blackmail”.
Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant to the minister on Public Communications and Social Media, made the remarks in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.
Olayinka recalled a publication on June 26, claiming that Wike had allocated 2,082 hectares of land to one of his sons in Maitama and Asokoro, which he described as falsehood.
He added that another tale of land allocation had surfaced, with a document indicating a land allocation to a company, Jordan Farms, assumed to be Wike’s son.
The spokesman, however, insisted that no land had been allocated to any of the minister’s children saying, “as usual, this sponsored blackmail has failed”.
According to him, those seeking to blackmail the FCT minister will need to put more effort.
“Nothing will stop Wike from continuing with his developmental efforts in the FCT in accordance with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.
“Last week, it was unfounded and poorly carried out propaganda of Wike allocating 2,082 hectares of land in Asokoro and Maitama to one of his sons, even when no such land is available in the two districts combined.
“They used a document showing allocation of land for farming in Bwari Area Council to a company, JOAQ Farms, to justify the falsehood.
“This week, it is a tale of allocation of land to another son of the minister because documents showed allocation of lands to a company, Jordan Farms.”
He explained that like other Nigerians, it was within the rights of the children of the minister, his friends, associates and relatives to own lands anywhere in the country, including the FCT.
This, he said, was lawful, provided all necessary conditions were met, insisting however that as at today, no land had been allocated to any of the minister’s children.
“No doubt, land was duly allocated to Jordan Farms and Estates Limited, a company duly registered in Nigeria, with none of the children of the FCT minister as director of the company.
“That one of the sons of the FCT minister is Jordan and there is a company, Jordan Farms and Estates Ltd is no reason anyone should conclude that the company belongs to Wike’s son,” he said.
Olayinka added that records of ownership of the company were available at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and challenged purveyors of the stories to publish names of the company owners.
“For instance, my name is Lere Olayinka, and there is Lere Local Government in Kaduna State. Do I own the Local Government?
“Am I even from Kaduna State? There are companies like Jordan Telecommunications, Jordan Foods, etc. are they also owned by Wike’s son?
“In the United Kingdom, there is Jordan’s Farms. Is the company also owned by Wike’s son?
“On the document showing the name and signature of one of the minister’s security aides, the question to be asked is simple, who owns the company; Hyper Communications Limited?
“If I choose to assist my friend, associate or relative to collect property documents, does that confer ownership of the property on me?” he asked. (NAN)
