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Lawyers representing Nigerian activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, have petitioned the Attorney General of Florida, James Uthmeier, demanding the seizure and prosecution over a string of multimillion-dollar properties allegedly linked to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his family.

In the petition dated September 22, 2025, signed by Deji Adeyanju & Partners, the legal team alleged that Wike, a career politician with no proven history of private enterprise, secretly acquired three luxury lakeside homes in Winter Springs, Florida, valued at more than $6 million. The acquisitions, the lawyers claim, were made entirely in cash between 2021 and 2023 and later transferred to his children through quitclaim deeds.

The identified properties include:

• 113 Springcreek Lane, Winter Springs, purchased for $535,000 and transferred to Jordan Wike, 25.
• 209 Hertherwood Court, Winter Springs, purchased for $459,157 and transferred to Joaquin Wike, 23.
• 208 Hertherwood Court, Winter Springs, purchased for $465,000 and transferred to Jazmyne Wike, 20.

“These cash transactions circumvent banking oversight and raise significant money laundering concerns,” the petition stated, noting that quitclaim deeds are often used by politically exposed persons to conceal illicit wealth.

The petition also accused Wike of failing to declare the foreign assets to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau as required by law, while also alleging that he had recently allocated thousands of hectares of prime land in Abuja to his sons through shell companies—transactions said to be worth more than $6 billion.

Citing both Florida’s Money Laundering Act and U.S. federal statutes, the lawyers urged the Florida Attorney General to:

1. Investigate the source of the funds and commence forfeiture proceedings on the identified properties.
2. Prosecute all those involved in the transactions under Florida’s anti-money laundering laws.
3. Impose a visa ban and sanctions on Wike to prevent the use of U.S. territory as a haven for alleged corrupt proceeds.

The petition also noted that the case falls under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, designed to seize assets bought with stolen public funds by corrupt foreign officials.

“Our client believes it would be a perversion of justice if Florida were to serve as a safe haven for illicit Nigerian wealth,” the petition read.

The petition was copied to the U.S. Department of Justice and the American Ambassador to Nigeria.

Full text of the petition reads:

DEJI ADEYANJU
& PARTNERS
September 22, 2025
The Honourable James Uthmeier,
Attorney General of Florida
Office of the Attorney General
State of Florida
PL-01, The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050.
Dear Attorney General Uthmeier,
PETITION FOR FORFEITURE AND PROSECUTION IN RESPECT OF
PROPERTIES ACOUIRED IN FLORIDA BY MR. EZENWO NYESOM WIKE,
CON, MINISTER OF THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF NIGERIA.
We are solicitors to Mr. Omoyele Sowore (hereinafter referred to as “our
client”), on whose instruction we act.
Our client is a human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner, widely
recognized for founding the online news platform Sahara Reporters. Through
his decades of activism, our client has been at the forefront of exposing
corruption, advancing transparency in governance, and championing the
rights of ordinary citizens in Nigeria.
It is in furtherance of this mission, in the interest of justice, and on the firm.
instruction of our client that we respectfully write to bring to your attention
the unlawful acquisition of properties within the jurisdiction of the State ot
Florida by Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, the current Minister of the Federal
Capital Territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and former Governor of
Rivers State.
1. Subject of Our Petition
Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, has been a career politician and public officer
since 1999, with no discernible record of legitimate private enterprise tha.
could justify vast foreign wealth. Notwithstanding, recent investigative reports
(herein attached for ease of reference) corroborated with public records it.
Florida show that he and his spouse, Honourable Justice Eberechi Suzzette
Nyesom-Wike of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, have secretly purchased three
multimillion-dollar lakeside properties in Winter Springs, Florida; now
collectively valued at well over $6 million USD, and have subsequently
transferred ownership of these properties to their children, namely, Jordur
Terrace Block D4, White Diamond
Estate, Makuru Street Off
Embu Street, Off Amino Kano,
Wuse II, Abuja
…Integrity and devotion to the law
07037717746. 08034486201,
07059564091
info@de)ladeyanjuandpartners.com
dejladeyanjuandpartners.com
Ezenwo Nyesom-Wike, Joaquin Chibuike Nyesom-Wike, and Jazmyne Adaezi
Nyesom-Wike.
Specifically, the properties in question are:
a. 113 Springcreek Lane, Winter Springs, FL 32708 (approximately 5,000 sc.
ft., purchased for $535,000 in cash and subsequently transferred to
Jordan Wike, age 25). This property corresponds to Lot 54, The Reserve at
Tuscawilla, Phase II, according to the Plat recorded in Plat Book 50, Piages
3-9, of the Public Records of Seminole County, Florida (Parcel ID: 06-21-
31-504-0000-0540).
b. 209 Hertherwood Court, Winter Springs, FL 32708 (approximately 3,401
sq. ft., purchased for $459,157 in cash and subsequently transferred to
Joaquin Wike, age 23). This property corresponds to Lot 55, The Reserve
at Tuscawilla, Phase II, according to the Plat recorded in Plat Book 50,
Pages 3-9, of the Public Records of Seminole County, Florida (Parcel ID:
06-21-31-504-0000-0550).
c. 208 Hertherwood Court, Winter Springs, FL 32708 (approximately 3,901
sq. ft., purchased for $465,000 in cash and subsequently transferred to
Jazmyne Wike, age 20). This property corresponds to Lot 67, The Reserve
at Tuscawilla, Phase II, according to the Plat recorded in Plat Book 50,
Pages 3-9, of the Public Records of Seminole County, Florida (Parcel ID:
06-21-31-504-0000-0670).
We have attached copies of the recorded Quit Claim Deeds relating to t’re
above parcels herein for ease of reference.
The transactions, executed through quitclaim deeds between July 2021 and
September 2023, were conducted entirely in cash, thereby circumventing
banking oversight and raising significant money laundering concerns. As is
well established, quitclaim deeds, while commonly used in routine far ly
transfers of property, offer no warranties of title and often escape close
scrutiny, making them a favoured instrument of kleptocrats seeking to
conceal illicit wealth by quietly transferring properties into the n a m e s of
spouses, children, or proxies. This mechanism, when combined with cash-
only acquisitions, reveals a deliberate scheme to disguise the source anc
beneficial ownership of assets.
Reports further confirm t h a t these assets were not declared to the Code cf
Conduct Bureau in Nigeria, despite Mr. Wike’s obligation under the Code of
Conduct for Public Officers (Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigerie,
Fifth Schedule, Part I, Code 3.3 & Code 11) as a public officer to disclose all
domestic and foreign assets while in public office since 1999 and avoid any
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acquisition of property not fairly attributable to income, gifts, or loan:.
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 t h
h e r husband. 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 cast
purchases of luxury homes in Florida.
These acquisitions in Florida by Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, are n0:
isolated acts. They form part of a pattern of corruption that Mr. Wike has
cultivated throughout his career as a public servant and politician. 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. Independent investigations estimate that these land grabs amount to
at least 3,822 hectares valued at $6.45 billion USD, much of it confiscated
from lawful owners under dubious pretexts.
This brazen conduct, combined with his unexplained foreign acquisitions,
suggests that Florida is being used as a safe haven for the laundering and
concealment of the proceeds of corruption.
Florida, like Nigeria, has enacted strong legislation against laundering illicit
wealth. Under the Florida Money Laundering Act (Chapter 896.101, Fla.
Stat.), it is unlawful for any person to conduct a financial transaction
involving property derived from illegal activity with the intent to conceal the
nature, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds and acquire title to real
property using proceeds that represent the fruits of specified unlawful
activity. The evident pattern in this case involves large cash acquisitions by a
long-serving public officer with no legitimate private earnings, the immediate
transfer of title to his children, and the concealment of true beneficia
ownership. This conduct falls within the prohibitions of §896.101(3), Florida
Statutes, and triggers the attendant consequences of forfeiture, prosecution
and civil penalties.
Complementing the provision of §896.101, Fla. Stat., Florida’s Contraban 1
Forfeiture Act (8§ 932.701-707, Fla. Stat.) authorizes the seizure and
forfeiture of property that is traceable to, or acquired with, the proceeds of
criminal activity. By its terms, assets acquired in violation of Florida’s money
laundering statutes are subject to forfeiture to the State of Florida.
Beyond state law, these transactions fall squarely within the ambit of U.s.
federal anti-money laundering statutes. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1956, it is a federal
3
offense to conduct financial transactions with t h e i n t e n t to conceal or disguise
the source, ownership, or control of funds derived from specified unlawful
activity. In parallel, 18 U.S.C. § 1957 criminalizes engaging in monetary
transactions exceeding $10,000 when those transactions involve criminally
derived property, even absent proof of concealment. The cash purchases of
Florida real estate by Mr. Wike and their subsequent transfers to his children
meet the statutory thresholds of both provisions.
Read in concert, these state and federal regimes create overlapping and
reinforcing grounds for the forfeiture of the subject properties. The U.S.
Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, launcher 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.
Similarly, under Nigerian law, Section 18 of the Money Laundering
(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, criminalizes concealing, disguising,
converting, or transferring property known to be proceeds of an unlawful ast.
whether within or outside Nigeria.
What emerges, therefore, is not simply a question of domestic Nigerian
corruption but an instance of illicit wealth finding sanctuary in the real estate
market of Florida. The United States has long taken a principled stance
against kleptocracy and money laundering. To allow these assets to reni in
untouched would be to provide a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption.
2. Our Prayers
It is in light of the foregoing that we respectfully pray that the Office of the
Attorney General of Florida:
a. Investigate the source of funds used in these acquisitions, and is
established to be the proceeds of money laundering or other unlawful
activity, immediately commence forfeiture proceedings against the
identified properties in Seminole County acquired by Mr. Wike and
transferred to his children.
b. Institute criminal prosecution against all individuals who facilitated or
executed the transactions, in accordance with the Florida Money
Laundering Act.
c. Impose a visa ban and related sanctions on Mr. Wike to prevent further
abuse of U.S. territory as a safe haven for corrupt enrichment.
We stand ready to provide all supporting documents, witness testimony, and
further particulars of Mr. Wike’s illicit activities. We have also retained U. $.-
based counsel who are prepared to collaborate with your office to ensure that
these proceedings are pursued to their lawful conclusion.
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The people of Nigeria have been impoverished for decades by the diversion of
public funds. 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.
We therefore urge your good office to act decisively, consistent with botn
Florida’s law against money laundering and the United States of America’s
commitments to anti-corruption globally.
Please accept the assurance of our highest professional regards.
Yours faithfully,
2 2 – 0 9 – 2 0 2 5 .
DEJI ADEYANJU, ESQ.
1 E 7 0 9 2 8 3 8
DEJIC. MOGYANJU
9CN:120s0
Ven To Mrs
CC:
1. The Honourable Pam Bondi
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001.
2. The Honourable Richard M. Mills, Jr.
Ambassador of the United States of America to Nigeria
Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive
Central District Ar