Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media to Nyesom Wike, says most members of the Peoples Democratic Party don’t know that Wadata Plaza doesn’t belong to the party.
Olayinka revealed this while speaking on Arise Television’s “The Morning Show” on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Located at Wuse Zone 5 in Abuja, Wadata Plaza is the national headquarters of the PDP.
Recently, the FCT minister, who is a member of the PDP, revoked the land title of the property because the PDP had not paid ground rent. The minister also revoked the title of the party’s unfinished national secretariat in the Central Area Business District of Abuja.
Meanwhile, PDP leaders have condemned the revocation of their property titles, saying the move was a deliberate attempt by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to stifle opposition.
Justifying the revocation of the titles, Olayinka said the property the opposition party leaders fume about does not belong to the party, adding that Wadata Plaza belongs to former Senate leader, Senator Samaila Mamman.
“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.
He said when the PDP wanted to buy the property in 2005, the party leaders approached the then Minister of the FCT, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, who asked them to pay N26.9 million.
According to him, the PDP, the ruling party at the time, failed to pay the amount.
Olayinka said, “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. A response was made to the PDP, saying that you have to pay a fee amounting to N26.9 million in 2005.
“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.”
With the revocation of the property’s land title, Olayinka said the building now belongs to Senator Samaila.
