The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has clarified remarks made by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, during a recent media chat, stating that his comment about Seun Okinbaloye was not made in bad faith.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, said the comment attributed to Wike was figurative and not a literal threat.
According to him, “the Minister never meant that he will shoot Seun Okinbaloye. They even spoke on phone today, and he (Okinbaloye) understood what the minister meant.”
Olayinka explained that the Minister’s remark was borne out of frustration over what he described as a shift in the journalist’s role during the interview.
“What the minister meant, which he made clear during the media chat was that he was angry seeing Okinbaloye, whom he hold in high esteem as a journalist, descending into the political arena by speaking as an interested party, instead of an interviewer,” he said.
He further described the comment as exaggerated rhetoric intended to emphasise a point rather than convey any real intent.
“The statement made by the Minister was in hyperbolic context, which was clearly without intent. It was primarily using exaggeration to make a point,” Olayinka added.
The aide also noted that the Minister had already clarified his position during the live programme on Channels Television, which featured senior journalist Chamberlain Uzor among the interviewers.
“Even after the Minister made the clarifications on the live television program… all the journalists who were interviewing him just laughed,” he said.
Olayinka stressed that Wike had explicitly stated during the broadcast that he had no intention of harming the television anchor.
“Therefore, after the Minister detailed explanations of what he meant, including saying on the live television program that he didn’t mean that he will carry 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,” he stated.
He urged the public to disregard any contrary interpretations of the comment, warning against its use for political purposes.
“The public is therefore urged to discontenance the use of the comment as instrument of blackmail and propaganda by those whose intent is to misrepresent facts for their political gains,” Olayinka said.
