*Photo: Mr Nyesom Wike*
JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd, a Nigerian company, has written to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, disowning arbitral proceedings at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), France, lodged by Ghanaian businessman, Sam Jonah, against the Nigerian government.
Dr. Adeniran Ogunmuyiwa, founder and director, stated that the arbitral proceeding purportedly commenced by Jonahcapital against the Nigerian Government “is a blatant attempt to defraud the Federal Government of Nigeria by foreign actors who have no right whatsoever to make the claim they are making on behalf of the company.”
In the petition acknowledged by office of the FCT Minister, the director’s position is that JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd “was not incorporated by the Ghanaians laying claims to it and the company was not sold to them either.”
According to him, as the man who signed the Development Lease Agreement between Jonahcapital Nigeria Limited/FCDA, I write this letter to bring to your attention Sir, the fact that there is indeed an ownership tussle within JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd that has resulted in several alterations between 2024 to 2026.
“We believe that their fraudulent scheme to defraud Nigeria began when Samuel Jonah woke up in his house to start impersonating himself as a Director of the company on the 1st day of February 2024, when he increased the share capital of the company from one million to one hundred million and allocated ninety-nine million to himself without the shareholders being aware.
“He further fraudulently claimed he was retaining himself as Director when in fact he has never been appointed to the office of a Director in the company,” Dr Ogunmuyiwa stated.
In addition, the letter dismissed Sam Jonah’s claims in the ongoing arbitral proceeding that JonahCapital provided infrastructure worth over $300 million dollars in River Park Estate.
“This is a clear fraud as JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd as a company in all its existence never provided any infrastructure or funding towards the development of River Park Estate.
“As the founding Director and shareholder of the company from its incorporation till date, I state categorically that the infrastructure in River Park Estate was funded by Paulo Homes Limited, whom we have that agreement with” Ogunmuyima clarified.
Based on the above premise, the director urged the FCT Minister “to resist and refer the claim of the purported “JonahCapital Nigeria Limited”, that it provided any form of infrastructure whatsover either by the Nigerian or Ghanaian faction as it is today to relevant Law enforcement agency.
He said this is to avoid falling prey to some internationally contrived fraudsters whose only agenda is to defraud the Federal Government of Nigeria (ie, Federal Capital Development Authority).
Ogunmuyima hinted that the company has equally sent a letter of cease and desist to the law firm of Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline & Partners (MPOBB) in Ghana, which is purporting to represent these entities before the ICC.
“On our part, we have also taken all necessary step to report this obvious fraud to all necessary law enforcement agencies for immediate attention,” the letter concluded.
Similarly, JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd also petitioned the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleging “identity theft, impersonation and attempt to defraud the Government of Nigeria” of a whooping 300 million dollars through the arbitral proceeding.
The petition, signed by their lawyer, alleged “a disturbing pattern of impersonation, fraud, false representations and an apparent attempt to unlawfully acquire and appropriate substantial economic interests connected to the River Park Estate project, Abuja, a project undertaken pursuant to a Development Lease Agreement with the Federal Capital Development Authority.”
The company therefore urged the EFCC to investigate Sam Jonah’s extraordinary claim of investing in the River Park Estate project that warranted the claim of 300 million dollars or any other money before the ICC and require him alongside all persons advancing or relying upon the alleged investment to produce conclusive evidence of capital importation into Nigeria, including Certificates of Capital Importation (“CCI”), bank statements, foreign inward remittance records, Central Bank of Nigeria documentation, foreign exchange records, investment agreements, audited accounts, payment vouchers, evidence of payments to contractors and suppliers, records of payments allegedly made for the acquisition, development or financing of the River Park Project, and any other documentary evidence capable of establishing that the alleged US$300,000,000.00 was actually brought into Nigeria and applied to the project.
The petition received by the EFCC on August 11, 2026, also urged the Commission to immediately commence a comprehensive investigation into the activities of Sam Jonah, Kojo Mensah, and all other persons who may have participated in, facilitated, or acted in concert with them in relation to the matters complained of and bring to book all persons found culpable.
More so, the company tasked the EFCC to establish the claim that Samuel Jonah is an Investor in Nigeria as the company dispute this fact and state in clear terms that he was only in Nigeria to represent a US company called Houses for Africa Holding Inc., and his failure to account for the finance of that firm led to an ongoing criminal investigation into the activities of Samuel Jonah and his cohorts in money laundering case pending before the EFCC.
“More importantly, if persons who have no legitimate proprietary interest in the project are deliberately presenting a fictitious investment history before an international arbitral tribunal in an attempt to secure an award conferring economic interests in a project connected to the Nigerian Government, such conduct goes far beyond an ordinary commercial disagreement and warrants the immediate attention of the Commission.
“We therefore urge the Commission to investigate the role of Kojo Mensah, the relationship between him and Sam Jonah, the representations made by them to the ICC, the documents relied upon in support of the alleged $300,000,000.00 investment and whether any of the documents or representations submitted in the arbitral proceedings are false, fabricated, misleading or otherwise calculated to induce the wibunal to grant relief to which the claimants are not entitled.
“On our part, we state categorically that Jonahcapital Nigeria Limited did not invest or fund ‘ANYTHING’ in River Park Estate or in the River Park project.
“Any contrary claim as is now being advanced before the Arbitral Tribunal is false, and calculated to mislead the Tribunal, procure an undue financial benefits for themselves, and ultimately defraud and embarrass the Federal Government of Nigeria,” it said.