How Wike Used $300m Meant For Ogoniland Remediation To Build Supermarkets
Omoyele Sowore, Human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has revealed that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, diverted the sum of $300million meant for Ogoniland’s environmental remediation into building a chain of supermarkets in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Sowore, convener of #RevolutionNow Movement, who made the revelation in a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, said Wike used the money to build the ‘HyperCity Supermarkets’ in Port Harcourt.
“The revelation is that thieving Nyesom Ezenwo Wike diverted $300million earmarked for Ogoniland’s remediation and development,” Sowore wrote.
“Reports indicate that Nyesom Ezenwo Wike funnelled the funds into constructing a chain of supermarkets in Port-Harcourt, known as ‘HyperCity Supermarkets.”
Sowore further revealed that the matter was recently brought to the attention of President Bola Tinubu by an Ogoni delegation.
“This revelation, which is being hushed, had an honourable mention in a document presented by an Ogoni delegation to President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa the day before yesterday,” Sowore stated.
The activist also vowed that efforts to hold Wike accountable for alleged mismanagement of public resources would continue.
“We will not stop until Wike is brought to justice or justice is brought to him for the unprecedented looting, killings, and destruction he has wrought on Nigerians across board.”
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) launched in 2016 following the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, is the federal initiative tasked with cleaning up Ogoniland, which has suffered decades of oil pollution.
Funding for the project has long been a contentious issue, with stakeholders in the Niger Delta repeatedly raising concerns about transparency and accountability.
Sowore’s revelation comes amid controversies surrounding Wike’s undeclared assets in Florida, United State of America, which the minister transferred its ownership to his three children.
It was reported on September 22, that Sowore petitioned the Attorney General of Florida, Hon. James Uthmeier, seeking the forfeiture and prosecution of 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 $6million.
It was reported on Sunday, September 21, that Quit Claim Deeds it sighted revealed that Wike and his wife, Eberechi Suzette Nyesom-Wike, a Court of Appeal judge, transferred their properties in Florida into the names of their children between 2021 and 2023.
Sowore shared the documents 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 Chibuike Nyesom-Wike, single, as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
A Quit Claim Deed executed on July 27, 2021, shows that Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, married, of 859 Dunblane Drive, Winter Park, Florida, transferred ownership of a property in Seminole County, Florida, to herself and Jordan Ezenwo Nyesom-Wike, single, as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
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.
President Bola Tinubu appointed Wike as FCT Minister in August 2023.
Sowore had stated that steps were underway to secure an international arrest warrant against Wike and extradite him to the U.S. over allegations of money laundering.
It was also reported on Tuesday that a group of Nigerian journalists led by Yinka Tella launched a petition urging the United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the Florida State government to investigate alleged fraudulent real estate purchases made in Florida by Wike.
The petition, initiated by Imoh Oton on the online platform Change.org, is titled “Investigate real estate fraud by Nigerian minister Nyesom Wike in Florida.”
In the petition, the journalists stressed that if Wike is found to have engaged in fraudulent activities, US authorities must take decisive action.
The petitioners said Florida must not be used as a safe haven for looted funds from Nigeria.
