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The office of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has sought to clarify controversy surrounding his comment about Channels Television anchor Seun Okinbaloye, insisting the statement was not a literal threat.
In a statement on Saturday, the minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, said Wike’s remark during a media parley in Abuja was exaggerated for effect and not intended to suggest physical harm.
He said the minister had already spoken with Okinbaloye by phone and that the matter had been resolved, adding that the journalist understood the context in which the statement was made.
“The minister never meant that he will shoot Seun Okinbaloye. They even spoke on phone today, and he understood what the minister meant,” Olayinka said.
Olayinka explained that Wike’s comment was directed at what he described as the journalist’s perceived shift from neutral questioning to expressing a personal political opinion during a live programme.
“What the minister meant, which he made clear during the media chat, was that he was angry seeing Okinbaloye, whom he holds in high esteem as a journalist, descending into the political arena by speaking as an interested party, instead of an interviewer,” he said.
He maintained that the remark was rhetorical hyperbole used to express anger, stressing that it should not be interpreted as a genuine threat.
According to him, the minister clarified during the live broadcast that he had no intention of violence, noting that those present at the event, including Channels Television officials, treated the explanation as sufficient.
“After the minister’s detailed explanations of what he meant, including saying on the live television programme that he didn’t mean that he will carry a gun and shoot the television anchor, it will become a clear hatchet job for any individual or group to pick the statement out of context and make any issue out of it,” Olayinka said.
He further argued that isolating the comment from its context amounts to misrepresentation, urging the public to disregard attempts to politicise the issue.
Wike had come under criticism after saying during the parley that he was so angered by Okinbaloye’s comments on Politics Today that he “would have shot him” through the television screen, a remark that sparked widespread backlash on social media.
The journalist had earlier raised concerns about Nigeria’s democratic trajectory in light of developments within the African Democratic Congress following its recent electoral recognition issues.
The statement has continued to generate debate, with commentators divided over whether the minister’s words amounted to a threat or rhetorical expression.
