Wike’s Aide Clarifies Comment on Channels TV Anchor Okinbaloye

By our Reporter

Mr Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has clarified remarks made by the minister during a recent media chat, stating that they were not intended as a threat.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Lere Olayinka said the minister’s comment about Seun Okinbaloye, a presenter with Channels Television, was purely figurative and made in a hyperbolic context.

Olayinka explained that the minister did not mean any harm and had since spoken with Okinbaloye, who understood the intent behind the remark.

According to him, Wike’s statement was an expression of displeasure over what he perceived as the journalist’s shift from an objective interviewer to an interested participant in political discussions.

He noted that the comment was made in exaggeration to emphasise a point and was not intended to be taken literally.

“Even during the live programme, the minister clarified that he did not mean he would carry a gun and shoot the television anchor. The atmosphere in the studio reflected this, as the journalists present, including Chamberlain Uzor, laughed after the clarification,” Olayinka said.

He cautioned against taking the comment out of context, describing any attempt to do so as a deliberate effort to misrepresent facts for political purposes.

The aide urged the public to disregard what he described as attempts to use the comment as a tool for blackmail or propaganda.