Ghanaian mining magnate Sir Sam Jonah has initiated international arbitration proceedings against the Nigerian government over a long-running dispute over one of his biggest investments outside Ghana.
The land is 501 hectares in size located in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
The case before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris centres on the termination of a development lease covering land near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The investment is held through JonahCapital Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Sir Sam’s investment group. No financial figure has been made public, though the property has been valued at around US$500 million based on current Abuja land prices.
What the dispute is about
At the centre of the dispute is Plot 4 in Cadastral Zone E30, Lugbe West, allocated to JonahCapital in 2007 under Nigeria’s Mass Housing Scheme. The company developed it into River Park Estate, a residential and mixed-use project with homes, shops, healthcare facilities, offices and places of worship.
JonahCapital says its lease was meant to run until June 2030, but Nigeria’s Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) terminated it in November 2025, a decision the company is challenging as unlawful.
JonahCapital also claims the FCDA failed to provide basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water, forcing the company to fund and build these itself.
It has also raised concerns over building approval fees and says parts of the property have been fenced off since arbitration began, alongside ownership claims from third parties that have dragged the matter through years of legal wrangling.
None of these claims has yet been tested by the tribunal.
Nigeria’s response
Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has confirmed the matter is now before arbitrators and said government would let the process run its course.
He insists the FCDA acted lawfully in reclaiming the property after the lease expired, and argues some of the disputed projects were actually handled by Paulo Homes Limited, a separate firm JonahCapital engaged to help secure approvals.
Running alongside the commercial case is a separate criminal matter before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, where Sir Sam Jonah and others face a 26-count charge sheet that includes forgery and unlawful allocation of company shares. He denies the allegations, and the charges are yet to be determined.
Ghana weighs in
Sir Sam petitioned Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa late last year over what he described as threats to his Nigerian investment from regulators there.
Ablakwa later raised the treatment of Ghanaian businesses in Nigeria at an ECOWAS Council of Ministers meeting in Abuja, citing the JonahCapital case directly. He had earlier visited River Park Estate and pledged support for protecting Ghanaian investments abroad.
By taking the case to the ICC rather than Nigerian courts alone, JonahCapital is leaning on an independent, international tribunal, a route commonly used in cross-border investment disputes.
No hearing date has been set, and the parallel criminal case in Nigeria is still pending.
