Reuben Abati, a columnist and Arise News Television’s host, has called on President Bola Tinubu to call the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to order.
Abati’s appeal to the president comes hours after Wike was captured in a viral video engaging in a verbal altercation with a Naval officer, Navy Lieutenant AM Yerima, on Tuesday, November 12.
Recall that Yerima and some military personnel had been stationed at a disputed plot of land in Gaduwa area of Abuja over claims that the Minister and his team from the FCT Administration were planning to demolish the property.
The officers, who were guarding the property, said to be owned by a former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Zubairu Gambo, prevented the Minister, his team and bulldozers from gaining access to the land, leading to a heated altercation between both parties.
Speaking on the broadcast station’s Morning Show, the former presidential aide said Wike has succeeded in turning himself into an Omo Onile, a Yoruba term which refers to “the child of a landowner”.
Abati said, “I will now comment on the man I described yesterday as the Omo Onile of the Federal Capital Territory, who thoroughly embarrassed the President of Nigeria while pretending to be exercising delegated authority. This morning, I have also said that he (Wike) comes across as the APC’s political bouncer in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He is trying to impose himself on that party to serve the purpose of a fifth columnist with the PDP.APC party merchandise
“So, that ties the two subjects together and however, he was on television characteristically – in a paid advert for himself – in which he was saying that he respects the rule of law,” Abati noted.
Also stating that the claim by Wike that he respects the rule of law cannot be true, Abati said the minister has failed on several occasions, even as a minister, to live by his claim.
According to Abati, the minister has constantly moved around Abuja, pulling down people’s properties with the claim that he wants to restore the city’s master plan.
“Is that respect for the rule of law – for a man who is an officer in the temple of justice?” Abati queried.
He said, “Wike is a person who has said that he respects the rule of law, but is selective in his respect for the rule of law? There are many court judgements regarding this Abuja master Plan and the Minister of the FCT chooses the kind of law that he wants to respect and the one that he doesn’t want to respect.”
In addition, the TV host further slammed the Minister over his response to claims that he disrespected the military by confronting the young officer who was stationed at the property under contention, terming such behaviour as an “embarrassment to the president.
He described Wike’s behaviour as abominable and unacceptable. Abati said, “By so doing, I insist, I repeat that he exposed the president, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to utter embarrassment, and that is something that I think the President of Nigeria should still address, one way or the other.
“And it is as follows, I think that the time has come for the president of Nigeria to call him to order, to say that there is something about decorum in terms of the behaviour of public officers. He could have used a court order; if there were court orders, he could have respected those court orders,” he added.