Wadata Plaza Doesn’t Belong To PDP — Wike’s Aide

Lere Olayinka, who serves as the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media to Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has disclosed that Wadata Plaza, commonly thought to be the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is not in fact owned by the party.

Olayinka shared this information during his appearance on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

“Wadata does not belong to the PDP; most members don’t know. I did not even know until two weeks ago. Senator Sama’ila Mamman owns Wadata Plaza,” Olayinka declared.

Situated in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, Wadata Plaza has been widely recognized as the PDP’s headquarters for years. Nevertheless, Olayinka revealed that the property is actually owned by Senator Samaila Mamman, a former Senate Leader, and that the PDP never finalized the process of acquiring it.

In recent developments, the FCT Minister withdrew the land title of Wadata Plaza, alongside the title of the PDP’s incomplete national secretariat in the Central Area Business District, due to unpaid ground rent. This action has sparked fierce criticism from PDP leaders, who claim the revocation is a politically driven move by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to suppress opposition voices.

In defense of the decision, Olayinka noted that the PDP did not meet its financial commitments when it sought to purchase Wadata Plaza back in 2005.

“PDP moved to buy the property from Senator Samaila in 2005, and after that, they wrote to the Minister of the FCT, Malam El-Rufai, a member of the PDP at that time, saying that we were buying this property, asking for the minister’s consent, which is the normal thing you do when you’re buying a property,” Olayinka explained.

He went on to say that Nasir El-Rufai, the FCT minister at the time, had replied to the PDP, demanding that the party pay a sum of N26.9 million to finalize the deal.

“The Chairman of PDP then, Vincent Ogbulafor, wrote to the FCT minister saying that money is too much. Imagine PDP at that time, the party in power, saying it does not have N26 million to pay, and El-Rufai insisted that the PDP must do the right thing, just as Wike is doing now,” he elaborated.

Following the revocation of the land title, Olayinka made it clear that the property now entirely belongs to Senator Samaila Mamman.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli