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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has confirmed that the estate development dispute between the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and Ghanaian-owned real estate firm, JonahCapital Nigeria Limited, over the River Park Estate in Lugbe, Abuja, is now before international arbitration.
JonahCapital had activated the arbitration clause in its Development Lease Agreement (DLA) against the FCDA and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), filing a claim before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris to challenge what it described as the unlawful termination of the agreement and to seek appropriate reliefs.
The company said it resorted to arbitration after exhausting official and judicial channels to address repeated breaches of the DLA covering Plot 4, Cadastral Zone E30, Lugbe West, Abuja, including the FCDA’s termination of the lease on November 5, 2025, despite the agreement remaining valid until June 2030.
Among the alleged breaches is the FCDA’s fencing of portions of the disputed property even as arbitral proceedings are ongoing, a development likely to further inflame tensions around one of Abuja’s largest mass housing projects.
Speaking at a recent media parley, Wike confirmed the matter had moved to arbitration, saying: “The other party has gone to arbitration, we say okay, until you finish from arbitration.”
The minister maintained that the FCDA’s contractual relationship was with JonahCapital, not with Paulo Homes Limited, a company JonahCapital had introduced into the arrangement, and insisted that the DLA with JonahCapital had since expired, prompting the authority to reclaim the land.
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The River Park Estate traces back to a Development Lease Agreement executed on May 28, 2007, between the FCT Minister and JonahCapital Nigeria Limited under the FCT Mass Housing Scheme.
The agreement, registered on June 5, 2007, as No. FC113 at Page 113 in Volume 20MSC, granted JonahCapital development rights over Plot No. 4, File No. MISC 105902, Cadastral Zone E30, Lugbe West, Abuja, a parcel spanning approximately 501 hectares, for the development of what has since become River Park Estate.
The project was conceived as a large-scale mixed-use estate comprising residential housing, shopping centres, office complexes, healthcare facilities, places of worship and other supporting infrastructure.
JonahCapital claims that while implementing the project, several individuals and entities with no allotment or contractual standing began asserting ownership claims over portions of the estate, triggering years of litigation, administrative disputes and competing claims over the land.
The company further alleges that the FCDA failed to provide primary infrastructure, including roads, electricity and water supply, as required under the DLA, forcing it to finance and construct the infrastructure independently at significant cost.
JonahCapital also contends that Clause 7.7 of the DLA required building approval fees to be deferred, but that the FCDA demanded upfront payment in breach of that provision.
