PANDEF Defends Wike In Face-Off With Naval Officer, Seeks Apology

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the apex socio-political body of the South-South geo-political zone, has said that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, deserves an apology for being confronted by a Naval officer and others and stopped from performing his lawful duty.

This followed Wike’s confrontation with the Naval officer in Abuja over a disputed land. The minister had gone to inspect the land but was prevented entry for what the Naval Officer said was “an order from above”.

Consequently, Wike confronted the officer using foul language in the clash that has been widely condemned.

While the Defence Ministry and the military hierarchy have risen in defense of the officer, PANDEF, in a statement signed by its National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali on Thursday called on President Bola Tinubu to direct the respective security and law enforcement authorities to fully investigate the incident and bring those involved to book.

This, he said, will preserve the professionalism in the military and guarantee respect for constituted civil authority, which is the most basic foundation for building a stable, virile democracy where the law rules at all times.

Furthermore, he insisted that Wike must be fully protected from such overzealousness, as he continues to carry out his assigned duties with personal passion and zeal.

Ambassador Igali emphasised that the behaviour of the naval officer was not just an affront on Wike, but an open show of disdain for the office of the President, whose powers, vested in the FCT Minister, were so publicly ridiculed.

PANDEF National Chairman expressed serious reservations over the rising social media glamourisation of the conduct of the naval officer, allegedly acting on the orders of a retired Service Chief, who ordinarily ought to know better that Wike deserves his due respect as a member of the Federal Executive Council and a direct representative of the President, over all matters relating to the Federal Capital Territory directly under his purview.

Igali said, “Wike, without doubt, one of the best performing Ministers in this administration, deserves to be treated with much more respect and decorum.”

The former Permanent Secretary held the view “that the Minister of the FCT deserves an unconditional apology from the leadership of the Nigerian Navy on behalf of its former Head and the harpless young officer involved in the horrible spectacle which is an act outside its core mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the country.

“The act of using ordinary innocent junior military personnel to perform illegal duties like watching over unoccupied personal lands or the like must not be tolerated, irrespective of the self-restraint of the latter,” the statement added.