Sowore has petitioned Florida Attorney-General over Wike’s alleged multi-million-dollar properties.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has petitioned the Attorney-General of Florida, James Uthmeier, calling for the forfeiture, investigation, and prosecution of alleged multi-million-dollar properties secretly acquired by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in the United States.
In a petition dated September 22 and signed by his counsel, Deji Adeyanju, Sowore alleged that Wike, in concert with his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, unlawfully purchased three lakeside homes in Winter Springs, Florida, valued at over $6 million.
ALSO: Stanbic IBTC’s Half-Year Results Mask Weak Revenue Streams Despite Profit Surge
According to the documents, the properties were purchased entirely in cash a move Sowore claims bypassed banking oversight and raised “serious money laundering concerns.” The assets reportedly include:
-
113 Springcreek Lane, purchased for $535,000 and transferred to Jordan Wike.
-
209 Hertherwood Court, purchased for $459,157 and transferred to Joaquin Wike.
-
208 Hertherwood Court, purchased for $465,000 and transferred to Jazmyne Wike.
Sowore argued that Wike, “a career politician with no verifiable private business interests,” could not have legitimately earned the income to fund such acquisitions. He further noted that the minister failed to declare the assets to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau, in breach of constitutional requirements.
“The pattern here is clear,” Sowore stated in the petition. “Large cash acquisitions by a long-serving public official, immediate transfer of titles to his children, and concealment of true ownership. This conduct falls squarely within Florida’s anti-money laundering prohibitions and warrants forfeiture, prosecution, and civil penalties.”
The activist maintained that allowing the properties to stand would amount to Florida enabling the laundering of funds allegedly diverted from Nigeria’s public treasury. He urged the Attorney-General’s office to launch an investigation, commence forfeiture proceedings, prosecute those involved, and impose a U.S. visa ban on Wike.
Copies of the petition were also forwarded to the U.S. Department of Justice and the American Embassy in Nigeria for further action.
