Wike vs Lt. Yerima: Wike should apologise for his conduct that fell below the standards expected of a Minister – Joe Abah
Lawyer and former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Sector Reform, Dr. Joe Abah, has commented on the clash between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Naval officer Lt. A.M. Yerima over a disputed piece of land.
In a post on X, Abah said Wike was wrong to have called the young officer a fool, describing the remark as unbecoming of a public official. He urged the minister to apologise to both President Bola Tinubu and the public for behaviour that, in his words, “fell below the standards expected of a Minister of the Government of Nigeria.”
However, Abah also acknowledged that Wike was right to confront the misuse of military power, condemning the deployment of soldiers to a private property. He further called on President Tinubu to sanction those responsible for assigning the officers to the disputed site.
”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.
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.
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.
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.”
