Former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka, has called on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike to publicly apologise to the military officer he verbally confronted in Abuja on Tuesday during a row over a disputed plot of land.
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that a video that circulated online earlier in the day (yesterday) showed Wike engaged in a heated exchange with a soldier who had reportedly stopped his convoy from accessing the contested property.
Reacting in a statement, Chidoka described the minister’s actions as “unacceptable behaviour,” saying they contradicted the principles of democracy and respect for institutional authority.
He faulted Wike for taking enforcement matters into his own hands rather than allowing due process to take its course, calling the confrontation “a fundamental misstep” in a democratic setting.
“Any law enforcement officer, in uniform or plain clothes, represents the president and the sovereignty of the Nigerian state. To abuse such an officer is to diminish the authority of the Republic itself,” Chidoka stated.
He emphasised that governance must operate through established institutions, not personal impulses. “In constitutional democracies, power operates through institutions, not impulse. No matter how justified a grievance, a minister cannot become an enforcer; that violates the very idea of ordered government,” he added.
Chidoka urged Wike to address any perceived wrongdoing through official channels, noting that if the soldiers’ presence at the site was irregular, the appropriate step would have been to contact the Minister of Defence, who oversees the military, instead of confronting the officer in public.