The Labour Party has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately dismiss the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, following allegations that he allocated large parcels of land in Abuja to his two sons.
This demand comes after an investigative report by Peoples Gazette revealed that Mr Wike allegedly allocated lands totalling 3,822 hectares, valued at approximately $6.45 billion, to his sons Jordan and Joaquin within the FCT.
In a statement issued over the weekend, the party’s spokesperson, Ken Asogwa, said President Tinubu has a moral obligation to relieve Mr Wike of his duties in light of the revelations.
“With the troubling reports emerging from the Federal Capital Territory Administration regarding the indiscriminate allocation of vast swathes of land to his children by the Minister of the FCT, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a moral obligation – if indeed any semblance of decency still exists in the conduct of this administration – to relieve the minister of his duties without further delay,” the statement read.
Citing the Gazette’s report, Mr Asogwa noted that over 2,000 hectares were allocated to Mr Wike’s first son. He expressed disappointment that instead of clarifying the allegations, the minister’s spokesman issued a statement that further indicted him.
He said Nigerians had expected Mr Wike to either retract or adequately address the embarrassing revelations but were met with silence. The LP spokesman stressed that President Tinubu must muster the moral courage to initiate an investigation into what he described as a grievous breach of public trust.
“But instead of accountability, we were met with silence – until yet another report surfaced, this time implicating Wike’s second son in a separate episode of illegal land racketeering. In this instance, the defence came directly from the minister himself, who, in a breathtakingly arrogant display, told a bewildered nation that his children, as Nigerians, have every right to apply for and receive land allocations in the FCT,” the statement added.
“By this admission, Mr Nyesom Wike has openly confessed to allocating thousands of hectares of public land to his own children – an act that smacks of abuse of office, conflict of interest, and a total disregard for ethical governance.”
The party lamented that the current administration was already burdened by a deficit of moral credibility and urged President Tinubu to demonstrate that public office is not a private estate.
“At the very least, he must demonstrate that public office is not a private estate by immediately relieving Mr Wike of his position. Anything less would be a tragic endorsement of impunity,” the statement concluded.
