Sowore Petitions U.S. Attorney General to Probe FCT Minister Wike Over Alleged $6m Florida Property Acquisitions
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has been formally petitioned before the United States government over allegations of unlawful acquisition of multimillion‑dollar properties in the State of Florida.
Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, in a petition dated 22 September 2025, urged the Attorney General of Florida, James Uthmeier, to initiate criminal prosecution against Mr Wike for alleged money laundering and to commence forfeiture proceedings in respect of the identified assets.
The petition, signed on Sowore’s behalf by legal practitioner Deji Adeyanju, further called on U.S. authorities to impose targeted sanctions and visa restrictions on the minister in line with applicable anti‑corruption measures.
Relying on a 1 September investigative report by Peoples Gazette and attaching three claim deeds as exhibits, the petition alleged that Mr Wike, with the assistance of his spouse, Justice Eberechi Nyesom‑Wike of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, secretly acquired three luxury lakeside residences in Winter Springs, Seminole County, between 2021 and 2023.
The properties, now reportedly valued at over $6 million, were said to have been transferred to the couple’s children — Jordan (25), Joaquin (23), and Jazmyne (20). The petition listed the homes as: 113 Springcreek Lane, purchased for $535,000 and transferred to Jordan; 209 Hertherwood Court, purchased for $459,157 and transferred to Joaquin; and 208 Hertherwood Court, purchased for $465,000 and transferred to Jazmyne.
According to the petition, all three acquisitions were paid for in cash and conveyed through quitclaim deeds — a transfer method commonly used within families but susceptible to abuse for concealing illicit financial flows.
“These transactions, executed in cash and concealed under the names of his children, constitute a deliberate scheme to launder the proceeds of corruption into U.S. real estate,” the petition alleged.
Sowore further contended that the properties were never declared to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau, in breach of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, which mandates public officers to disclose all assets. He also cited alleged violations of the Florida Money Laundering Act (§896.101, Fla. Stat.), the Contraband Forfeiture Act (§932.701–707, Fla. Stat.), and U.S. federal money laundering statutes (18 U.S.C. §1956 and §1957).
The petition described the conduct as “brazen” and indicative of Florida being used as a safe haven for laundering illicit funds. It comes against the backdrop of Mr Wike’s political prominence as a former governor of Rivers State and a key ally of President Bola Tinubu, particularly in the disputed 2023 Rivers State presidential election.
In a related development, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria reiterated its policy of imposing visa restrictions on corrupt Nigerian officials, stating via its official X handle that “fighting corruption knows no borders or limits on accountability,” and warning that even high‑profile individuals could be barred from entering the United States.
