The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has fumed about the position of Channels TV journalist and anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, that one-party system is imimical to democratic survival in the country.
Amid the controversial derecognition of the African Democratic Congress leadership by the Independent National Electoral Commission following a court verdict, Mr Okinbaloye, in a Thursday edition of the Channel TV’s Politics Today, expressed concern over the dire consequences of one-party system for Nigeria’s democracy.
“I am particularly pained because what makes the race very interesting is when it is competitive, not only one party stands in the middle of the ballot and you’re looking for the rest of the political parties. When some of us talk, it looks like our mouth is smelling. And we have been on this ground for a while.
“There are lot of experienced men in the ADC that should have seen the devil in some of the issues that have been raised in the past months. Particularly, it looks like one of the hopes of the opposition going into 2027. If this hope is dashed, we are doomed democratically,” the anchor stated.
Reacting during a media parley held in Abuja on Friday, Mr Wike said “he would have shot” Mr Okinbaloye for taking sides in the leadership crisis rocking the ADC on a national television.
“I was thoroughly surprised yesterday. When I was watching Seun’s Politics Today. If there is anyway to break the screen, I would have shot him. How can an interviewer say we cannot allow one-party state,” the minister stated.
Noting that it was not unprofessional for a journalist to ask opposition members specific questions regarding the one-party claim, Mr Wike insisted it was unbefitting for Mr Okinbaloye to publicly allege plot by the government to make Nigeria a one-party state.
The minister added, “You are now telling them your own view, as an interviewer, that you can’t allow one-party state. I was just taken aback. I am not saying I will kill him. I am just angered that he made that kind of statement on a national television. This is not the kind of journalism I have seen people do.
“The point I am trying to make is that as an interviewer asking question, there is nothing wrong to ask (opposition members) how they would have allowed this to happen. You are now the one whom in a national television making that kind of position, which is not right. That is the point I am trying to make.”
The INEC’s position on the Court of Appeal judgment on the leadership crisis rocking the ADC has generated mixed reactions from Nigerians. While some defended the electoral body for taking the right decision, others accused it of being a tool allegedly used by the Tinubu government to foist one-party system on Nigerians.
The coalition party on Friday said it would proceed with its scheduled congresses despite the controversial rejection of its leadership.
However, the presidency branded the decision as “lawless,” warning the party of dire consequences.
