The lawyer for the businessman suing Jordan Wike, son of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, says the defendant collected and acknowledged $2.1 million as part-payment in a land deal, and then changed his account.

“After collecting this money, the story became entirely different,” said Ibrahim Garba Waru, counsel to Safwan Garba and GY Global Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited, as the FCT High Court adjourned the case to December 1, 2 and 14, 2026.

Waru also dismissed claims circulating on social media that the dispute involves 60 hectares of land in Guzape and Katampe. “That is not true. That is not actually what transpired,” he said.

According to Waru, the parties signed a joint venture agreement under which his client would contribute $4.2 million, while Jordan would provide 1.5 hectares in Guzape and 1.7 hectares in Katampe for the construction of houses. Proceeds from sales would be split 60 per cent to the claimant and 40 per cent to Jordan.

Garba paid half of his contribution, $2.1 million, which Waru said Jordan “acknowledged received” as part-payment.

The lawyer said the money was handed over on October 17, 2025, at a house in Gwarimpa, Abuja, in the presence of witnesses. Two young men who say they helped carry the cash and load it into the boot of Jordan’s car have testified before the court.

Waru said Jordan’s defence that he was out of the country refers to the wrong date. September 26, 2025, he said, was when the two men first discussed the deal, by phone and WhatsApp, not when the money changed hands. The claimants have tendered those chats as Exhibit 7.

He also called the alibi itself “baseless”. Jordan presented a boarding pass dated September 26 that carries no year, Waru said. “So I asked him that question, when is this boarding pass issued? You have to indicate 26th day of September 2025, 2026 or 2027,” he said, adding that Jordan could not answer.

Jordan’s account is entirely different. Testifying as the first defence witness before Justice Silvanus Oriji, he denied receiving money, signing any land document or knowing the claimants. “I did not receive any money from anybody,” he told the court, according to Sahara Reporters.

He said the signature on the agreement was forged and that the passport number on it belonged to a passport that expired in 2022. He told the court he was on a British Airways flight from Abuja to London on the morning of September 26, 2025, and produced a photocopy of his American passport. He described the suit as an attempt to blackmail his father, and tendered a certified police report recommending that Garba be prosecuted for defamation, giving false information and attempted extortion.

The court has ordered Jordan to write his name and signature five times for comparison with the disputed documents. His lawyers did not object.

Waru has now written to the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court asking that the case be taken away from Justice Oriji and reassigned. “We were made to understand there is a kind of family ties, community, very tight community relation and family relationship between the defendant and the judge,” he said. The claim has not been independently verified. Waru said the Chief Judge’s office has yet to respond.

The claimants have also petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the criminal side of the case. Waru said the petition and supporting documents were submitted last year, but they have received no update since.

Hearing resumes on December 1.