The legal battle over ownership and development rights within the sprawling River Park Estate has taken yet another explosive twist as an Abuja High Court on August 21, 2025 directed all warring parties — in the case between Jonah Capital Nigeria Limited and Paulo Homes Nigeria Limited to “maintain the status quo” and stay off the disputed properties — even as Commissioner of Police, CP Akin Fakorede’s letter to the FCT Director of Lands has unexpectedly made its way into the courtroom.
Jonah Capital vs. Paulo Homes adjourned sine die
In Suit No. CV/2902/2025 between Jonah Capital Nigeria Limited (Claimant) and Paulo Homes Nigeria Limited (Defendant), presided over by Honourable Justice C.O Agashieze, the court ordered both parties to “stay action and refrain from interference” with several disputed properties, including developments like Paulo Boulevard and Aazik Homes, all within the River Park Estate.
While fixing the substantive hearing for a later date, the judge adjourned the matter sine die, effectively freezing all activities within the estate.
The lawyers representing Paulo Homes, led by Barrister Oluwabunmi S. Adebiyi, filed a further affidavit on August 18, 2025 attaching the letter authored by Akin Fakorede on August 7, 2025.
This letter was addressed to the Director of Land Administration and copied to Abuja Geographical Information System, AGIS, Development Control, and Paul Odili of Paulo Homes.
The letter purported to instruct all government dealings on River Park Estate to be routed exclusively through Paulo Homes, effectively declaring Odili the “sole owner” of the disputed land — despite multiple ongoing court cases and a pending review of the Police investigation by the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF.
Legal observers and anti-corruption advocates have described the insertion of Fakorede’s letter into the court record as “deeply troubling,” given its timing and apparent attempt to influence ongoing litigation and undermine the Ministerial Committee set up by Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister to investigate the River Park land-use crisis.
The Office of the AGF had formally instructed the Nigeria Police Force to halt all actions relating to Charge No. CR/402/25, filed by the Police on June 26, 2025, and transmit the entire case file to the AGF for independent review.
But CP Fakorede has reportedly defied this directive. Even more shocking was that the outcome of a July 2, 2025 high-powered meeting convened by the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, with all parties to the dispute. At that meeting, the IGP expressly ordered Fakorede to invite the lawyers (names withheld for now) who prepared the CAC documents 13 years ago, now alleged to be forged, — a directive Fakorede has completely ignored to date.
But Fakorede allegedly spent the past weeks writing letters to government agencies and Paul Odili.
The reported selective circulation of Fakorede’s letter to the Director of Lands copied to the Directors of AGIS and the Development Control Department has triggered alarm bells among civil society groups and legal experts. Both agencies hold authority over land titles and approvals within the FCT, raising fears that the letter could be part of a broader attempt to tamper with land records ahead of the Ministerial Committee’s findings.
This is sending shockwaves through Abuja’s real estate and investment community. Analysts and observers worry that the River Park saga risks painting the FCT and Nigeria as unsafe for both local and foreign investors.
The questions begging for answers are “Why has CP Fakorede repeatedly defied explicit instructions from both the AGF and the IGP?” “Who are the “faceless collaborators” within the FCTA allegedly enabling these moves?”
