How Wike secretly transferred three multimillion-dollar undeclared U.S. lakeside properties bought in cash to his three children – Report

Peoples Gazette has uncovered how Nyesom Wike secretly acquired three multimillion-dollar homes in the United States for his children, using illicit cash movement to secure the lush assets for his only three children in an exclusive lakeside community.

Documents obtained by The Gazette show that Mr Wike’s wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike of the Court of Appeal, personally executed quitclaim deeds transferring ownership of three separate homes in the Reserve at Tuscawilla, an affluent lakeside neighbourhood in Winter Springs, Florida, to the couple’s three children.

Documents stated that Mr Wike paid millions in cash to acquire the assets when he was Chief of Staff to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, his intractable arch-rival in Rivers. Sources close to the FCT minister said he converted billions of naira he had previously stolen from fictitious public works contracts into U.S. dollars and moved the funds to Florida to execute the purchases.

The Gazette also learnt that Mr Wike did not declare the properties either as his own or belonging to his children, Jordan, 25; Joaquin, 23; and Jazymine, 20, apparently in contravention of a longstanding statute on asset disclosure by federal appointees.

Mr Wike did not return several requests seeking comments. His wife, Eberechi, who assisted him with recategorising the assets in 2021 and 2023, despite being a senior federal judge, also declined to comment.

The Gazette started working on the story several months ago, and first contacted Mr Wike’s spokesman about it in June 2025, as part of its extensive look into Mr Wike’s illicit accumulation of public wealth. West Africa Weekly reported on one of the three Florida properties last week while The Gazette was finalising its reporting. The Gazette can confirm with documents that there were not just one, but three luxury homes acquired and transferred in succession to the minister’s heirs.

The deals, completed between July 2021 and September 2023, were deliberately structured to keep the assets beyond the reach of Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), where the minister conspicuously failed to declare them. Nigerian law requires all public officials to disclose assets, both domestic and foreign.

When The Gazette first reached out to Mr Wike’s spokesman, Lere Olayinka, in June, he acknowledged the request for comment but failed to provide any explanation weeks later. Since then, neither the minister nor his aide has addressed why he concealed the Florida estates or why they were acquired through opaque cash transactions.

The pattern was calculated and precise. On July 22, 2021, while still governor of Rivers State, Mr Wike used his wife to quietly transfer a sprawling estate at 113 Springcreek Lane to their eldest son, Jordan Ezenwo Nyesom-Wike, now 25 years old. The property, a 5,000-square-foot mansion with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, was purchased outright for $535,000 cash — a mode of purchase often used by questionable characters and outlaws to tuck illicit assets around the world.

The same day, another deed was executed for their second son, Joaquin Wike, aged 23, who received ownership of a 3,401-square-foot residence at 209 Hertherwood Court, also with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, bought in cash for $459,157. Two years later, in September 2023, just as Mr Wike was being sworn in as FCT minister under President Bola Tinubu, Eberechi Wike filed to transfer ownership of yet another home — a 3,901-square-foot estate at 208 Hertherwood Court, acquired for $465,000 in cash, to their only daughter, Jazmyne Nyesom-Wike, 20.

Each of the three properties is now worth over $2 million, all registered under “joint tenancy with rights of survivorship,” a legal mechanism designed to cement ownership within the family while bypassing inheritance courts and, more crucially, public scrutiny.

Each was completed as a cash transaction, a method that avoids banking oversight, sidesteps mortgage filings, and effectively erases any financial trail that might reveal the origin of the funds. By transferring the properties directly to his children, Mr Wike ensured they would be shielded from the declaration regime of the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The dubious acquisitions further cement Mr Wike’s severely damaged reputation as a corrupt politician who has used his proximity to power since the 1990s to blindly loot public funds, even as everyday residents of his state languish in multi-generational poverty.

 In Port Harcourt, pensioners still lament unpaid entitlements from his administration, which lasted from 2015 to 2023. Major infrastructure projects touted as “legacy works” often remain abandoned or already in a state of decay. Hospitals lack essential equipment, and public schools remain underfunded. Yet, in the quiet cul-de-sacs of Tuscawilla, the Wike children now enjoy legal titles to sprawling mansions with lakefront views, private access roads, and manicured lawns — opulence financed in the shadows of public office.

For years, Mr Wike has sought to muddle corruption allegations against him with bluster, projecting himself as a fearless enforcer and patriot in Nigeria’s turbulent politics. However, the deeds filed in American courts and The Gazette’s ongoing reporting on his mindless looting of Abuja’s lucrative lands have revealed the garulous politician in his true light.

Since late June, The Gazette has been running its series exposing Mr Wike’s corruption. First, his allocation of lands worth over $3.6 billion to his second son, Joaquin, was published on June 26. On July 4, another story was published that exposed how the minister used a similar pattern to secure lucrative lands for his first son, Jordan, across the Nigerian capital.

On July 16, 2025, two weeks after The Gazette’s first story was published, and as a presidential probe into the matter was purportedly underway, Mr Wike signed 33 approvals for his 90-year-old father, Joshua Nlemanya Wike, and other family and friends, according to documents obtained by our reporters and published on July 22.

Even though he was able to visit the U.S. in his early years in politics, and his wife gave birth to their three children there, Mr Wike has conspicuously avoided going to the U.S. again, with sources informing The Gazette he was among those barred for sponsoring political violence in Nigeria. A spokesman for Mr Wike did not address the question about why his principal couldn’t travel to the U.S.

Still, Mr Wike has maintained his influence in Mr Tinubu’s circle. The president himself has long been associated with public graft, and he has not pretended to fight fraft in public service since assuming office in May 2023. A presidential spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for Mr Wike did not return a message on Sunday offering him a last opportunity to comment before this publication.

Mrs Wike, the judge, also sidestepped efforts to obtain his comment, but the National Judicial Council, which oversees judges’ conduct nationwide, said asset declarations are not in its purview.

“According to Section 153 of the Constitution, which establishes the NJC and other such institutions of government, asset declaration matters are not part of the functions of the NJC,” Kemi Ogedengbe, spokesperson for the Supreme Court body, told The Gazette on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Code of Conduct Bureau stated that she could not comment on Mr Wike’s alleged contravention of disclosure regulations, citing her illness.

“I’ve been bedridden for the past six months, hence I can’t help with your inquiry,” Veronica Kato told The Gazette Sunday night.

In May 2023, the CCB urged newly elected, re-elected, appointed, and outgoing public officers to declare their assets before and after their terms.

Part I of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution mandates that all public officers — the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, judges, and ministers — declare assets both in and out of office.

Section 15(1) of the CCB and Code of Conduct Tribunal Act also requires asset declaration by public officials. Violations are subject to severe penalties, including removal from office, asset forfeiture, and a 10-year ban on holding public office. Public officers are legally obligated to declare their assets upon assuming office, at the end of their term, and every four years thereafter.

While the CCB’s primary role is asset declaration and enforcing the code of conduct, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is primarily responsible for asset forfeiture through civil and criminal proceedings, as asset forfeiture is a part of the sentencing process and recovery of illicitly obtained property.

A spokesman for the anti-graft office could not be reached for comment.

(Peoples Gazette)