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By Oscar Okhifo
Legal representatives of fiery activist, Omoyele Sowore have submitted a petition to the Attorney General of the State of Florida, United States, against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over alleged properties traced to him in the US.
The petition, filed on behalf of human rights activist and former presidential candidate was disclosed in a post on the Facebook page of rights advocate, Deji Adeyanju.
According to Adeyanju, the legal request urged the Florida authorities to forfeit the said properties, prosecute those involved, and impose a visa ban on Wike.
Speaking in a telephone conversation with Pointblanknews.com, Adeyanju stressed that the move was not personal but part of a broader struggle to rid Nigeria of endemic graft.
“It is not a personal matter. It is strictly about our country and the need to fix it. To rescue it from black feet that do not want to appreciate the need to pull it out from the deep ditch that corruption has pushed it into,” he said.
The latest petition comes against the backdrop of a war of words between Sowore and Wike.
Just last week, the FCT Minister had warned Sowore to be grateful for President Bola Tinubu’s tolerance of dissent.
“Where on earth do people openly call their president a criminal? Not even in the so-called paragons of democracy and free speech. Not everyone is like Mr. President. One day, you will meet a person that is not like Mr. President,” Wike said during a public event.
While Wike has denied ever buying property for his family in the United States, he did not explicitly deny the existence of assets in the names of his wife and children.
Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and a long-time anti-corruption campaigner, has repeatedly accused top government officials of looting public funds and stashing wealth abroad. His latest move against Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, is seen by many as an extension of his crusade to expose alleged financial misconduct by Nigerian politicians.
Wike, on the other hand, has often dismissed Sowore’s allegations as politically motivated attacks. Their rivalry, political observers note, reflects the growing tension between activists demanding accountability and politicians accused of corruption.
Analysts say the petition could have far-reaching implications, not only for Wike’s international image but also for his political influence at home. If U.S. authorities act on Sowore’s request, it may trigger fresh scrutiny of Nigerian public officials’ foreign assets and further intensify the political battles between reform advocates and entrenched power brokers.