The $2.1m scandal involving Jordan Wike is a subject I have been trying to avoid for the simple reason that he is the son of Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory Minister. I know Nyesom Wike, as viewers of this show know.
I am a firm believer in the principle that children and spouses of politicans, indeed family members of anyone in public office should not be targeted for public scrutiny or ridicule. But it would appear it was just a matter of time before we got to this point with the Wike clan.
A year or so ago, I was taken to a farm at Usman Dam, in a suburb of Abuja. I was told the farm belongs to Jordan Wike. And of course, I knew the reason for taking me there. You see, no one makes a reporter aware of potential scandals out of the goodness of their heart.
I have a child the same age as Jordan Wike. I would hate for my child to be put in Jordan’s position now. But, cry no river for him. He is a chip off the old block, as they say. He watched and learnt well from his father. Including the audacity and impunity of his father, Nyesom.
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I don’t know if he inherited the mean vengeful spirit and political sagacity of the Minister.
His mother’s calm demeanour would have been better for him.
A former president of Nigeria once told me that he told his children to avoid doing business with government because his name would always be associated with them, and one way or the other it would not be fair; they may be overrated or underrated.
The Tinubu regime has unleashed something that was not always common in Nigeria. Children of top politicans and public officials didn’t always seek the limelight. Most of them operate behind the scenes and do their stuff outside our shores.
Today they hug the limelight, hanging out with celebrities, running for offices even when they lack the credentials. They do the “in your face” kind of life suggesting they would continue the lordship of their fathers over the rest of us.
But this young man and his brother, Joachim seem to want to show people of Rivers State that they are set to inherit, not only their father’s enormous wealth but his political success too.
Nyesom Wike practiced law for a few years before becoming the Chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government Area.
He didn’t practice law long enough to have established a name and practice that would attract big legal briefs. He was a struggling young lawyer until politics became his meal ticket.
Wike does not have a history of wealth as we have said on this show. One can assert that everything he owns today was given to him by politics through public office; that is local government chairman, chief of staff to governor of Rivers State, Minister of State, Minister, governor and now, Minister of the FCT.
While serving as governor, Wike allegedly built a chain of superstores, called Hypercity, a huge hotel and filling stations.
He is replicating the supermarket chain in Abuja. The Abuja version is called Carrefour. These business are alleged to be managed by O.K. Chinda and his wife.
In case you forgot, O.K.Chinda is a lawyer, former commissioner, member of the House of Representatives and governorship candidate of the APC for 2027 in Rivers State.
When Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was the governor of Rivers State, a mutual friend of ours called me to complain that his first son was seen driving a Jaguar. I asked him why he was offended by that.
I told him I have seen his children who were undergraduates driving his cars, including his SUV.
He acknowledged that what I was saying is true but that the cars belonged to him. “So your problem is that the Jaguar car belongs to Rivers State?” I asked him.
“Definitely!” He responded.
“I have seen his wife, Judith come to Abuja with her aides in the Rivers State jet. The governor was not in the plane.”
I told him to calm down that it was a typical Nigerian thing.
Nigerians are a conquered people. Conquered by the politicians, their collaborators in business, foreign and local.
Politics is about power. But in a democracy, power is supposed to be a means of serving the people, not an end in itself.
The Nigerian politician is in it as a means of amassing wealth. They get to the point where they lose every sense of propriety. No shame.
Otherwise tell me how someone who could barely pay rent builds mansions within a few years of getting into power without being pricked by his or her conscience? That is why retention of power becomes the principal objective of political engagement.
The fundamental principle is that public office is a public trust. The people confer authority on their elected representatives with the expectation that such authority will be exercised in their interest.
These offices come with responsibilities. They are not personal possessions. But it appears as someone has stated in the past that Nyesom Wike and his family consider every office he occupies as his personal estate.
From Obio Akpor to Rivers State Government House and now the Federal Capital Territory, all belong to the Wike clan.
He massively deployed the resources of the Federal Capital Territory in his fight with his lackey, Simi Fubara, the governor of Rivers State.
The FCT Minister allocated plots of land to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly as an inducement to help him fight the governor.
Each member of the Rivers State House of Assembly in his good books were allocated lands twice. Yes, they are Nigerians and they are entitled to land.
Its the same justification he gives for allocating lands to his children and other family members.
Am I less a Nigerian? I have applied for land three times in the FCT before Wike became Minister. About a year after he became Minister I sent him a soft copy of all my applications. He pooh poohed me.
Again, I ask: am I less a Nigerian than members of Wike’s family and friends?
This man does not see that there is something fundamentally wrong with a public officer sharing public property to his family and friends and claiming they are entitled to it because they are citizens.
That justification is only good for a man who lacks moral clarity, good conscience and has no regards for propriety. He is a man who has completely lost the ability to feel shame.
In his Letters From Stockholm, an online series, Kio Amachree, a Rivers State indigene whose father was Nigeria’s first Solicitor-General wrote an open letter to Jordan and Joachim Wike titled: What Exactly Did Your Father Give You.
He asked the Wike boys three questions: 1. What did you get? 2. What did you pay? 3. Where did the money from?
The Code of Conduct for Public Officers prohibits conflicts between personal interests and official responsibilities and addresses the acceptance of improper benefits.
These are not merely moral aspirations; they are obligations attached to public office. But to people like Nyesom Wike these are mere inconveniences that they ignore.
A report in Peoples Gazette, an Abuja based newspaper, revealed that Nyesom Wike, in his capacity as FCT Minister allocated 3,822 hectares of land across the FCT valued at six billion, four hundred and fifty million dollars to his children.
This is in addition to other properties in different parts of Abuja valued at more than three billion dollars.
They were already big time farmers in Abuja while they were students in universities abroad.
Kio Amachree in his Open Letter to the Wike boys said this, following denials by Wike’s people:
“Publish the documents. Every hectare of FCT land that you, or any company in which either of you holds a beneficial interest has received since your father became Minister. The beneficial ownership of Jordan Farms and Estates Ltd. and Joaq Farms and Estates Ltd.”
The $2.1m scandal arose from a petition by Global Oil & Gas Ltd. to the EFCC asking them to investigate Jordan Wike, the FCT Minister’s son over a fraud linked to proposed land allocations in Abuja.
According to the petitioners Jordan was supposed to help them acquire 60 hectares of land in Katampe and Guzape.
The petitioner claims to have paid Jordan Wike $2.1m cash. $2m was supposed to be for the FCT Minister and $100,000 to Jordan for facilitating the deal.
Jordan Wike has denied the allegations. Nyesom Wike has made no comments. Smart. I told you he’s a smart dude.
The EFCC has not told us why they did not investigate the allegations and if they did, what their investigations revealed. And herein lies the problem with Nigeria.
If Jordan was the son of Mr. Nobody Wike or with a different last name, he would be paraded with pictures splashed over media by the EFCC and declared guilty until proven innocent. Its different laws for the haves and have-nots.
The problem I have with this story is multifold. There is a saying that those who go to equity must go with clean hands.
The man who claims to have handed $2.1m cash to this boy does not have clean hands.
How did you raise that much foreign currency in cash? Is Jordan Wike an official of the Federal Capital Territory ministry?
This business commenced with criminal intentions. Was the $2m for Nyesom Wike or the FCT? If it was for the minister what are you paying him for? If the money was meant for the FCT why not pay to the treasury through their bank account?
But the question that bothers me the most as a Nigerian is: If Peoples Gazette report is true, how can one man enrich his children to the tune of $10b within a year of occupying a public office?
What kind of life does he expect those children to have? This is not love for his children but unmitigated greed that can only lead to disaster.
His wife is an Appeals Court judge, for God’s sake.
Even from the very reliable grapevine, no one has heard that the President or anyone from the presidency has repudiated Wike for the conduct of his son.
A boy who felt justified to earn a fee of $100,000 for simply being the son of a public official is a danger signal to society.
The FCT Minister has been embroiled in too many scandals. He has been accused of public inebriation but my worry is more with his power drunkenness. He gathers reporters weekly to insult his political opponents and spew jibberish.
The accusation of allocating public property worth more than $6b to his children should have ended his career.
The current scandal of $2m is one too many. He should resign or be fired by the President.
And this is the Tinubu Legacy for Nigeria. How did a man of great promise descend this low. So very sad.
Mr. President, Nigeria should not end because of your reelection ambition.
Fire Nyesom Wike now and salvage what is left of your reputation and legacy.
This is our show for today. I wish you God’s blessings. I am Jonathan Elendu.
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