The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has taken aim at activist and African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore over a tweet in which Sowore described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”
On August 25, Sowore posted that Tinubu “actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!” The Department of State Services (DSS) subsequently filed criminal charges against Sowore for defamation, alleging his statements were false and in breach of Nigeria’s Cybercrimes and Terrorism Prevention laws. The DSS also asked social platforms X and Meta to remove the tweet. Sowore refused to delete it, calling the DSS action an attempt to silence dissent and describing it as “despicable.”
Speaking at the flag-off of the Arterial Road N1 construction in Wuye on Thursday, Wike said Sowore was “lucky” Tinubu respected the rule of law and suggested the activist might not be so fortunate under a different leader. “This is a country where somebody on social media will say Mr President is a criminal; nothing will happen. You say all kinds of things you want to say, but nothing will happen,” Wike said. He contrasted this with other countries and warned, “You are lucky you have a President who believes in the rule of law. You are lucky. Continue to be lucky. There are those you will meet that you won’t be lucky again.”
Wike also addressed the indefinite strike by the FCT chapter of the Association of Resident Doctors. He said the administration included N25 billion for health in the 2025 capital budget recently approved by the National Assembly, but stressed that hiring doctors and paying allowances must follow proper procedures. He urged patience from the doctors.
“The SSS called me that people said they will demonstrate, that we are paying attention to roads, we are not paying attention to health. I called the Director, listened—demonstration is allowed everywhere. Nobody will blackmail me, nobody will stop me from doing what I think is right, and do it at the right time,” Wike said. He noted the administration had just appointed an acting Head of Service and instructed the Civil Service Commission to proceed with hiring where waivers exist.
Wike warned against using the FCT Civil Service for political purposes: “If you want to enter political party A, you’re free to enter political party A and face me when the time comes. Don’t use Civil Service to play politics, no.” He added that while protests are allowed, they would not stop him from proceeding with official events.
