FCT Minister Wike Violated Asset Declaration Rules Over Undeclared U.S. Properties, Says Odinkalu

Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, has accused Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike of breaching Nigeria’s asset declaration laws by failing to disclose properties held in the names of his wife and children in the United States.

Odinkalu’s remarks followed revelations in August that Wike secretly acquired a $2 million mansion in Winter Springs, Florida, which was registered under the names of his wife, Justice Eberechi Wike, and their children, Joaquin, Jazmyne, and Jordan. Public records show the family secured the property in March 2025. Documents obtained by West Africa Weekly also indicated that Justice Wike is a registered member of the U.S. Democratic Party, in violation of Nigeria’s Judicial Code of Conduct, which bars judges from political affiliations.

A source familiar with the transaction told West Africa Weekly that Wike deliberately omitted his name from the purchase to avoid scrutiny over asset declaration rules and the source of funds. The report was later amplified by *SaharaReporters* and activist Omoyele Sowore.

Wike, however, denied wrongdoing during a Channels Television interview last week, insisting the property was a gift from his wife’s family. “My wife and children are Americans. I don’t even like going to America,” he said.

Odinkalu dismissed that defence, stressing that Nigerian law requires public officials to declare assets linked to their spouses and underage children. Writing on X, he accused Wike of ignoring clear rules under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, which mandates disclosure of such properties.

The controversy has intensified with a fresh petition by Sowore to the Attorney General of Florida, James Uthmeier, seeking forfeiture and prosecution of Wike over alleged illicit property acquisitions. Filed on September 22, 2025, the petition claimed that Wike and his wife secretly purchased three luxury lakeside properties in Seminole County, Florida, worth over $6 million, using cash transactions. The homes were transferred to their children through quit claim deeds between July 2021 and September 2023. Sowore’s lawyers argued that the cash-only deals were designed to bypass banking oversight and raised serious money laundering concerns.

The petition further alleged that Wike failed to declare the properties to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau, with his legitimate earnings as a public servant deemed insufficient to justify such acquisitions. It cited multiple breaches of Florida state laws, U.S. federal anti-money laundering statutes, and referenced the U.S. Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

This latest storm comes on the heels of earlier reports by *Peoples Gazette*, which accused Wike of allocating more than 2,000 hectares of Abuja’s prime land to his son, Joaquin, since taking office as FCT Minister in August 2023. The allocations, valued at an estimated $3.6 billion, allegedly bypassed regulations and critical fee payments. Additional reports in July and April claimed that Wike also allocated plots in exclusive districts to family members, including his father, siblings, and cousins.

Wike has consistently denied allegations of abuse of office and illegal property acquisitions, but the mounting reports have increased pressure on him to account for his stewardship and financial dealings.