ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – The legal team of Barrister Jordan Nyesom Wike has fired back over the $2.1 million Abuja land dispute, insisting that claims that he admitted receiving the money are completely fabricated.
Lead counsel, Dr James Ogwu Onoja, SAN, said Jordan Wike, son of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, never collected any money from the plaintiff, Safwan Garba, and never even met him.
Onoja warned bloggers, media houses and social media commentators, including Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to stop peddling the false narrative or face legal consequences.
He said those who persist will be liable to both criminal and civil actions for malicious falsehood, cyberbullying, slander and libel.
The response was provoked by an interview granted by I.G. Wuru, lawyer to Safwan Garba, who instituted suit No. FCT/HC/CV/008/2026 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In the interview, Wuru reportedly insinuated that Jordan Wike admitted in open court that he received the disputed $2.1 million for an Abuja property.
Onoja said the interview, granted weeks after actual court proceedings, has become the source of defamatory commentaries online.
“Our attention has been drawn to stories on series of blogs, comments and conclusions on social media by mischief makers and promoters of falsehood,” he said in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
He said the false claim was most maliciously circulated by Sahara Reporters and VDM and has since been amplified by other platforms.
He listed Port Harcourt Specials, The Cable, Ogoni Times, Magic FM Aba, Information Nigeria, Kalabari TV, Sorosoye Gossip and Edo Updates among those pushing the falsehood.
According to him, the publications are part of an orchestrated media campaign to whip up sentiments, compromise the mind of the public and intimidate the judge.
Setting the record straight, Onoja said: “For the records, Jordan Wike in his defence before the court stated in unequivocal terms that he has never met Safwan Garba G.Y. or any of his agents at any time.”
He said Jordan Wike maintained that position while giving evidence in court on September 28 and 30, 2026.
Onoja said it is baffling that a lawyer would grant a media interview to misrepresent what transpired in court almost a month after.
He said his team had deliberately avoided public statements because the matter is sub judice.
He, however, said the daily name-calling and barrage of lies against his client made it imperative to speak out.
“Safwan Garba instituted this action in court but it appears he is not contented with letting the court determine the matter,” he said.
He said lawyers on both sides ought to maintain professional posture instead of resorting to underhand media tactics.
On the EFCC petition being circulated to support the $2.1m claim, Onoja said it was his team that tendered the letter in court to expose inconsistencies.
He said Safwan Garba deliberately kept the document away from his pleadings and abandoned it at the EFCC when he realised the lies were too conspicuous.
Onoja urged the public to disregard what he called vicious and barefaced lies of Safwan Garba and the flagrant misrepresentation by his lawyer.
He described Wuru’s conduct as contemptuous and copiously unethical.
He demanded immediate pull-down of all defamatory publications and warned that failure to do so will attract both criminal and civil litigation.
