Money Laundering Saga: Sowore Petitions US to Ban Wike’s Visa, Seize Luxury Assets

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has been dragged before the United States government over alleged unlawful acquisition of multimillion-dollar properties in Florida.

Activist Omoyele Sowore, in a petition dated September 22, 2025, asked the Florida attorney general, James Uthmeier, to prosecute Mr Wike for alleged money laundering and to initiate forfeiture proceedings against the assets.

The petition, signed by his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, also urged U.S. authorities to impose sanctions and visa bans on the minister.

The petition, citing Peoples Gazette’s September 1 report and supported with three claim deeds as exhibits, alleged that Mr Wike, with the assistance of his wife, Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, secretly purchased three luxury lakeside homes in Winter Springs, Seminole County, between 2021 and 2023. The properties, now valued at over $6 million, were reportedly transferred to their children — Jordan, 25, Joaquin, 23, and Jazmyne, 20.

The identified homes are: 113 Springcreek Lane, bought for $535,000 and transferred to Jordan; 209 Hertherwood Court, bought for $459,157 and transferred to Joaquin; and 208 Hertherwood Court, bought for $465,000 and transferred to Jazmyne.

According to the petition, all three purchases were made in cash using quitclaim deeds, a transfer mechanism often used within families but vulnerable to exploitation for concealing illicit funds.

“These transactions, executed in cash and hidden under the names of his children, form a deliberate scheme to launder the proceeds of corruption into U.S. real estate,” the petition stated.

Mr Sowore further alleged that the properties were never declared to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau, thereby breaching the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, which requires public officers to disclose all assets.

He also cited several U.S. and Florida laws allegedly violated, including the Florida Money Laundering Act (§896.101, Fla. Stat.), the Contraband Forfeiture Act (§932.701–707, Fla. Stat.), and U.S. federal statutes on money laundering (18 U.S.C. §1956 and §1957).

“This brazen conduct, combined with his unexplained foreign acquisitions, suggests that Florida is being used as a safe haven for laundering the proceeds of corruption,” the petition added.

Wike is one of President Bola Tinubu’s most cherished ministers and played a key role in securing his victory in the controversial 2023 election in Rivers State.