Governance expert and lawyer, Dr Joe Abah, has criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for calling a naval officer “a fool” during a confrontation at a disputed property site in Gaduwa, Abuja.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Abah said Wike’s outburst was uncalled for and urged him to apologise to the officer, President Bola Tinubu, and Nigerians for what he described as behaviour below the standard expected of a public servant.
“Minister Wike (a public servant) was wrong to call the young officer (a fellow public servant) a fool. He should not call ANYBODY at all a fool. He should apologise to the officer for calling him a fool,” Abah wrote.
He added, “He should also apologise to Mr President and the general public for conduct that fell below the standards expected of a Minister of the Government of Nigeria.”
The lawyer, however, agreed that Wike had a right to question the presence of military officers on private land but faulted the method he used.
“Minister Wike was right to challenge the impunity of deploying military officers to a private property. If, according to the officer, civilians were working there and FCDA officials came to stop them, the solution is not to deploy the military to a private property. Whoever deployed them should be sanctioned by the President, Commander-in-Chief,” he stated.
Abah also cautioned the naval officer, Lieutenant Commander Yerima, saying he should have limited his response to following orders instead of making comments about the ownership of the land.
“The officer too should be guided that when he is following orders, he should not ‘descend into the arena’ and start making categorical statements about the completeness of the papers. Like Minister Wike said, it is not in his place to do that,” he added.
The clash between Wike and the officer, which was caught on camera, has continued to generate reactions from Nigerians online and among political figures.
