Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to clarify allegations that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, offered land and cash gifts to senior officials of the electoral body.
In a statement issued on April 7, 2026, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, described the reports as “disturbing and worrisome,” urging the commission to urgently address the claims in order to preserve public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
According to the statement, recent media reports alleged that Wike allocated land and provided financial gifts to senior INEC staff. The party also referenced another report in which Mohammed Kudu Haruna, Supervising National Commissioner for the FCT, was quoted as acknowledging receipt of land allocation.
“Last week, the news media was awash with stories of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, offering land and cash gifts to senior staff of the Commission. Later, another news item surfaced wherein Mr. Mohammed Kudu Haruna, who is the Supervising National Commissioner for the FCT, was quoted to have admitted the land gift,” the PDP stated.
The opposition party expressed concern that the alleged allocations could be part of what it described as a broader “land-for-favour scenario” aimed at influencing institutions critical to Nigeria’s electoral process.
“This news is very disturbing and worrisome and seems to connect the dots in the land-for-favour scenario currently being widely speculated as the strategy for institutional capture of the Minister,” the statement read.
The PDP also questioned why such allocations, if true, were limited to officials connected to election management, while professionals in other essential sectors had not reportedly benefited from similar gestures.
“It is curious that these land gifts are given to officials in agencies critical to elections, whereas there are other officials in critical development sectors, like healthcare professionals, teachers, and even security officials—whose duties demand that they live in the capital city. We have not heard of any land allocation to these people, obviously because they are not directly related to the election process,” the party stated.
The PDP further demanded that INEC leadership publicly address the allegations, noting that the reports risk deepening public skepticism about the neutrality of the electoral body.
“We hereby demand that the National Chairman of INEC comes clean on these allegations against his top officials, and even himself, as he has also been alleged to be a beneficiary. These stories, at a time like this, deepen the erosion of public trust in an electoral umpire with a legacy of stained credibility. Therefore, the Commission should, as a matter of urgency and priority, inform the public of the true situation regarding this matter,” Ememobong stated.
The party also urged INEC to uphold transparency and impartiality in its conduct, stressing the importance of public trust ahead of future elections.
“The Commission must remember at all times that it must strive to be, like Caesar’s wife, above board, and ensure that transparency and impartiality are not just watchwords but are obvious in both its words and actions,” the statement added.