The United States has warned that corrupt Nigerian officials will face visa restrictions, stressing that accountability has no borders.
“Fighting corruption knows no borders or limits on accountability. Even when high-profile individuals engage in corruption, they can be barred from receiving U.S. visas,” the U.S. Mission in Nigeria posted Monday on its official X handle.
The warning came just hours after Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike was petitioned before U.S. authorities over the alleged acquisition of multimillion-dollar properties in Florida.
Activist Omoyele Sowore, in a petition dated September 22, 2025, asked Florida’s Attorney General, James Uthmeier, to prosecute Wike for money laundering and initiate forfeiture proceedings. The petition, filed by lawyer Deji Adeyanju, also called for sanctions and visa bans against the minister.
Citing a September 1 report by Peoples Gazette and attaching three claim deeds as exhibits, the petition alleged that Wike and 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, valued at over $6 million, were reportedly transferred to their children Jordan, 25; Joaquin, 23; and Jazmyne, 20.
The homes listed include:
- 113 Springcreek Lane, purchased for $535,000 and transferred to Jordan,
- 209 Hertherwood Court, purchased for $459,157 and transferred to Joaquin, and
- 208 Hertherwood Court, purchased for $465,000 and transferred to Jazmyne.
According to the petition, all transactions were cash-based and executed via quitclaim deeds, a method often used for family transfers but allegedly deployed to conceal ownership and evade scrutiny.
“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 claimed.
It further alleged that Wike failed to declare the properties to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau, in violation of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution. It also cited breaches of the Florida Money Laundering Act, the Contraband Forfeiture Act, and U.S. federal laws on money laundering.
“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,” it added.
Wike, regarded as one of President Bola Tinubu’s most influential ministers, has yet to respond to the allegations.
