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Human rights activist and Sahara Reporters founder, Omoyele Sowore, has petitioned the Attorney General of Florida, James Uthmeier, seeking forfeiture and prosecution over properties allegedly acquired by Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, through illicit funds.
In the petition dated September 22, 2025, Sowore’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, alleged that Wike and his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, secretly purchased three multimillion-dollar lakeside properties in Winter Springs, Florida, worth over $6 million. The homes, bought in cash between July 2021 and September 2023, were later transferred via quitclaim deeds to their children, Jordan, Joaquin, and Jazmyne.
“These cash-only acquisitions, followed by immediate transfers to his children, raise significant money laundering concerns,” the petition stated, noting that the assets were never declared to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau. Adeyanju argued that Wike’s decades-long career as a politician with no verifiable private enterprise could not justify such wealth.
The petition listed the specific properties as 113 Springcreek Lane, 209 Hertherwood Court, and 208 Hertherwood Court, all in Seminole County. Sowore’s legal team attached public records and quitclaim deeds as evidence.
According to the petition, the transactions violated Florida’s Money Laundering Act (Chapter 896.101, Fla. Stat.), the Contraband Forfeiture Act, and US federal anti-money laundering laws. It further linked the acquisitions to a broader pattern of alleged corruption, including claims that Wike allocated over 3,800 hectares of Abuja land to his sons through shell companies.
Adeyanju urged Florida authorities to investigate and, if confirmed as illicit, seize the properties, prosecute those involved, and impose a visa ban on Wike. “The people of Nigeria have been impoverished for decades by the diversion of public funds,” the petition stated. “It would be a perversion of justice if those funds, siphoned through abuse of office, are allowed to flourish in Florida’s real estate market.”
The petition was also copied to the US Department of Justice and the US Ambassador to Nigeria, requesting collaboration under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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