Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has firmly denied claims by businessman Sir Sam Jonah that he allocated 501 hectares of land to him for the development of River Park Estate in Abuja, describing the assertion as “absolutely untrue, fictitious, misleading and libellous.”
Obasanjo’s denial came in a letter dated July 10, 2025, addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), in response to an inquiry made by the Police on July 4, 2025. The IGP had sought confirmation on whether the claim made by Jonah—that Obasanjo personally allocated the land for the estate—was true.
“The claim of Sam Jonah that I invited him to allocate 501 hectares of land to him or his company or one single plot of land for that matter is absolutely untrue, fictitious, misleading and libellous,” Obasanjo wrote in the letter.
This clarification aligns with an earlier correspondence Obasanjo had sent to the Police dated July 1, 2025, in which he stated categorically that Jonah was “completely mistaken in his recollection” if he claimed the former president had ever allocated any land to him.
The denial by Obasanjo is part of a larger legal battle surrounding the ownership of River Park Estate, Lugbe, Abuja. Jonah, a Knight of the British Empire, is at the center of a brewing corporate dispute involving allegations of forgery, impersonation, and fraudulent appropriation of company assets. He is to be arraigned alongside two other Ghanaians—Kojo Ansah and Victor Quainoo—as well as an Abuja-based lawyer, Abu Arome, and Mobus Property Nigeria Ltd, before Justice Modupe-Osho Adebiyi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
The defendants are facing a 26-count charge filed by the Nigerian Police. According to court documents marked CR/402/2025 and dated June 25 but filed on June 26, 2025, the accused allegedly forged corporate documents and filed them with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to unlawfully seize control of Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd and Jonahcapital Nigeria Ltd—companies linked to the disputed River Park Estate.
Prosecuting counsel Isa Garba of the Legal and Prosecution Section, Force Headquarters, Abuja, and Maureen Okonkwo, Registrar of the FCT High Court, signed the charge sheet.
The Police allege that the accused persons fraudulently increased the share capital of the companies and allocated 99 million shares to themselves using forged documents and forged signatures. They also allegedly misrepresented themselves as Nigerian citizens to the CAC in order to carry out their activities.
To support its case, the Police have submitted a range of exhibits including multiple petition letters addressed to the IGP and the FCT Commissioner of Police, statements from the accused persons, and a final forensic report dated November 29, 2024, with a follow-up final investigation report dated June 27, 2025.
One of the key exhibits is a forged letter of relinquishment of eight million shares allegedly signed by John Townley Johnson on the letterhead of Houses for Africa Holding Inc., which forensic analysts have confirmed to be fraudulent. Other exhibits include board resolutions dated September 9, 2013, that removed and appointed directors in Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd., as well as manipulated CAC status reports for both Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd. and Jonahcapital Nigeria Ltd.
Further evidence includes forged board resolutions increasing the share capital of the affected companies and the processing of title documents under Mobus Property Nigeria Ltd.—transactions the Police allege were carried out without proper authority and in a fraudulent manner.
The Police also cited forensic reports from Keyforensics Ltd and internal police analysts to substantiate their case against the defendants.
