Sowore Petitions Florida Attorney General, Seeks Forfeiture Of Wike’s Secret $6Million Florida Mansions Bought In Cash
By Passman Akpos
In the petition dated September 22, 2025, and signed by his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, Esq., Sowore accused Wike of secretly purchasing multi-million-dollar real estate in Florida using suspicious cash transactions designed to conceal the source of funds.
Human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, has petitioned the Attorney General of Florida, Hon. James Uthmeier, seeking the forfeiture and prosecution of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over illicit property acquisitions in the United States.
In the petition dated September 22, 2025, and signed by his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, Esq., Sowore accused Wike of secretly purchasing multi-million-dollar real estate in Florida using suspicious cash transactions designed to conceal the source of funds.
According to the petition, Wike, a former Rivers State Governor, alongside his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, purchased three luxury lakeside properties in Winter Springs, Seminole County, Florida, valued at over $6 million.
The petition listed the properties as 113 Springcreek Lane, Winter Springs, FL 32708, which is a 5,000 sq. ft. residence purchased in cash for $535,000 and transferred to Jordan Wike (25); 209 Hertherwood Court, Winter Springs, FL 32708, which is a 3,401 sq. ft. home acquired for $459,157 in cash and transferred to Joaquin Wike (23); and 208 Hertherwood Court, Winter Springs, FL 32708, which is a 3,901 sq. ft. home bought for $465,000 in cash and transferred to Jazmyne Wike (20).
Sowore’s lawyers said the purchases were executed through quit claim deeds between July 2021 and September 2023 and transferred directly to Wike’s children. They argued that the cash-only acquisitions bypassed banking oversight and raised “serious money laundering concerns.”
Breach of Nigerian and U.S. Laws
The petition alleges that Wike failed to declare these foreign assets to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as required under the Constitution.
It further noted that his legitimate income as a public servant since 1999 could not sustain such multi-million-dollar acquisitions.
Adeyanju argued that the transactions violated both Florida state law and U.S. federal anti-money laundering statutes, specifically citing the Florida Money Laundering Act (Chapter 896.101, Fla. Stat.), the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act, and federal laws under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957.
He also referenced the U.S. Department of Justice Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which targets assets linked to corrupt foreign officials.
“The U.S. Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, launched in 2010, provides a ready mechanism for action in these kinds of cases, where corrupt foreign officials launder stolen public wealth into the United States under the guise of ordinary family transfers,” he said.
“Although the named grantor in the quitclaim deeds is his wife, Honourable Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, it is evident that the acquisitions and subsequent transfers to their children were undertaken in concert with her husband,” the petition said.
“In any case, Honourable Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike’s position as a senior judicial officer and justice of the Court of Appeal of the Federal Republic of Nigeria renders the transactions no less troubling, as her legitimate income could not reasonably sustain multi-million-dollar cash purchases of luxury homes in Florida.”
Pattern of Alleged Corruption
Beyond Florida, Sowore alleged that Wike, in his capacity as FCT Minister, has been involved in “large-scale land grabs” in Abuja, allocating over 3,800 hectares valued at $6.45 billion to his children through shell companies and proxies.
“These acquisitions in Florida by Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, are not isolated acts. They form part of a pattern of corruption that Mr. Wike has cultivated throughout his career as a public servant and politician,” the petition stated, accusing Wike of using U.S. real estate as a safe haven to conceal the proceeds of illicit enrichment.
“Most recently, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, he has been credibly accused of allocating thousands of hectares of the capital’s most valuable public lands to his sons, Jordan and Joaquin, through shell companies and proxies.”
Sowore’s Demands—In his petition, Sowore urged the Florida Attorney General to investigate the source of funds used in the acquisitions, commence forfeiture proceedings against the identified properties in Seminole County, institute criminal prosecution against all parties involved in the transactions and impose visa bans and sanctions on Wike to prevent further abuse of U.S. territory.
Adeyanju said his client was ready to provide additional documents, testimonies, and collaborate with U.S.-based counsel to support the petition.
Sowore concluded that failure to act would amount to the U.S. providing a sanctuary for corruption proceeds.
“The people of Nigeria have been impoverished for decades by the diversion of public funds,” the petition read. “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 U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard M. Mills, Jr.
Attached to the letter were reports published by Peoples Gazette, along with quitclaim deeds showing how Wike and his wife, Eberechi, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, transferred their Florida properties into the names of their children between 2021 and 2023
Background
President Bola Tinubu appointed Wike as FCT Minister in August 2023.
On Sunday, Sowore shared the quit claim deeds on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account, showing that the ownership transfers were executed on July 22, 2021, July 27, 2021, and August 13, 2023.
One of the quit claim deeds executed on July 22, 2021, shows that Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, married, of 653 Dunblane Drive, Winter Park, Florida, transferred ownership of a property to herself and her son, Joaquin, single, as joint tenants with right of survivorship. The grantees’ address is listed as 113 Spring Creek Lane, Winter Springs, Florida.
A quit-claim deed executed on July 27, 2021, shows that Eberechi transferred ownership of a property in Seminole County, Florida, to herself and one of her sons, Jordan Ezenwo, as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
