*Over River Park Estate crisis*Allege Commission’s boss falsified records, shares
By Our Reporter
Two Ghanaian companies, Jonah Capital Nigeria Ltd, and Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd. have dragged the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) of Nigeria before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court, over alleged tampering with the ownership records of their companies currently operating in Nigeria.
The matter pivots around the allegation that the Registrar-General of Nigeria’s CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, allegedly unlawfully altered the corporate records of both companies which are linked to the multi-billion-naira River Park Estate in Abuja.
This, claimed the firms, was despite a subsisting court case and a directive from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for the parties to maintain status quo.
Also, the Nigeria’s National Assembly has waded into the matter with a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Muktar Tolani Shagaya (Ilorin West, Kwara State) formally presenting a petition written on behalf of both companies. The petition contained accusations that the CAC Registrar-General unlawfully appropriated shares, removing duly appointed directors, and retrospectively invalidated corporate filings to favour rival claimants in the River Park land dispute.
Presiding over the House plenary recently, Deputy House Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu granted leave for the petition to be laid after Shagaya informed the House that the petition, signed by Kojo Ansah Mensah, detailed what he described as “the unlawful expropriation of shares, extra-judicial removal of directors, and retrospective invalidation of corporate filings” by the CAC boss.
The petition marks a dramatic turn in a dispute that has lingered for years. It, however, recently snowballed into a full-blown corporate governance crisis.
According to reports, the River Park Estate controversy deepened after allegations surfaced that the CAC reassigned shares belonging to Jonah Capital Nigeria Ltd and Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd to rival interests in the land ownership battle.
The controversy gained further public attention following a declaration by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on national television that Samuel Jonah and Jonah Capital were the original allottees of the River Park Estate.
Despite this, the petitioners allege that the CAC Registrar-General proceeded to alter the companies’ shareholding structures, expunged public records, removed serving directors, and reinstated former ones, actions they argue were taken in defiance of both judicial processes and executive directives.
In a strongly worded statement, Kojo Ansah Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of Jonah Capital Nigeria Ltd and one of the Ghanaian investors in the estate, alleged that on December 8, 2025, the Registrar-General “unlawfully altered” the ownership structure of both companies.
According to the Ghanian businessman, the action was taken despite a pending court case and a standing directive from the Attorney-General’s office instructing the CAC to halt any changes pending investigation.
Mensah disclosed that the AGF, through the Solicitor-General, had on September 24, 2025 directed the CAC to place a caveat on the companies’ records while allegations of forgery against investors Sir Samuel Jonah KBE, Kojo Mensah, Victor Quainoo, and their Nigerian lawyer, Abu Arome Esq., were being reviewed.
He further alleged that although the CAC had been served with originating summons weeks before December 8, the Registrar-General went ahead to effect the controversial changes. At a meeting held on December 1, 2025 and attended by representatives of all parties and officials from the AGF’s office, the investors’ lawyers reportedly warned that the matter was sub judice.
Mensah described as “bizarre and false” a subsequent claim by the Registrar-General, in a letter to the AGF, that the investors failed to appear at the meeting.
Following the changes to the corporate records, Mensah said Olakitan Ogunmuyiwa and Adeniran Ogunmuyiwa, the “newly coronated” directors, moved swiftly to notify banks, including Zenith Bank, to close the companies’ accounts and wrote to the FCT Minister announcing a purported takeover of the firms.
“These hurried actions are designed to disrupt the operations of the company,” Mensah said, adding that the moves raised concerns about coordinated corporate sabotage.
The Ghanaian investors have since petitioned not only the National Assembly but also the Attorney-General of the Federation, warning that the CAC’s actions could set a dangerous precedent for the “hostile takeover of foreign-owned companies by government officials.”
Amid the growing controversy, Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd issued a detailed rebuttal disowning Dr. Adeniran Ogunmuyiwa, who had recently claimed to speak on behalf of the company. In a statement dated October 11, 2025, and signed by its company secretary, the firm described Ogunmuyiwa’s claims as “false, misleading, and malicious,” insisting that he ceased to be a shareholder or director years ago.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the directors of Houses for Africa Nigeria on CAC records are Kojo Ansah Mensah, Sir Samuel Esson Jonah, Victor Quainoo, and Jonah Nathaniel,” the statement said, warning that “any other individual claiming directorship is doing so fraudulently.”
The company traced Ogunmuyiwa’s exit to a 2012 Heads of Agreement, affirmed by a 2013 Special Resolution and formalised through a 2017 resignation letter. As part of his disengagement, he was granted development rights over portions of River Park land but allegedly failed to settle creditors, exposing the company to litigation.
Houses for Africa also distanced itself from a lawsuit reportedly filed on its behalf by Chief Anthony Aikunegbe Malik, SAN, challenging the FCT Ministerial Committee, insisting that neither its board nor legitimate directors authorised any such legal action.
The dispute has now spilled beyond Nigeria’s borders as during an ECOWAS Ministers’ Meeting held on December 12, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs publicly condemned what he described as the harassment of a Ghanaian investor in Nigeria. Diplomatic sources and meeting records indicate that the matter has been formally referred to ECOWAS for investigation, elevating it into a regional diplomatic and trade concern.
With ECOWAS now involved in the issue and Nigeria’s CAC under intense scrutiny, pressure is mounting on Nigeria’s Minister of Trade, who has yet to issue a public response on the matter. Observers warn that how Nigerian authorities handle the unfolding crisis could determine whether it is resolved through institutional correction, or escalates into a broader diplomatic and economic confrontation between two of West Africa’s closest allies.
As rival directorship claims, conflicting lawsuits, and allegations of regulatory overreach continue to swirl, analysts say the River Park dispute has become one of the most complex corporate governance battles in Nigeria’s recent history, with implications that extend far beyond Abuja’s property market.
