Lere Olayinka, senior special assistant on public communications and social media to Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has clarified the minister’s controversial comment about Seun Okinbaloye, saying it was not meant literally.
Wike had said in a media chat on Friday that he would have shot Okinbaloye through his TV over the journalist’s comment that Nigeria is drifting towards a one-party state.
In a statement on Saturday, Olayinka said Wike only spoke figuratively during the media chat and did not intend any threat.
“The minister never meant that he will shoot Seun Okinbaloye. They even spoke on phone today, and he understood what the minister meant,” he said.
Olayinka explained that Wike was expressing anger over what he perceived as the journalist stepping beyond his role as an interviewer.
“What the minister meant was that he was surprised to see Okinbaloye, whom he holds in high esteem, descend into the political arena by speaking as an interested party instead of an interviewer,” he said.
He described the remark as hyperbolic, noting that it was an exaggeration used to make a point rather than a literal statement.
“The statement was made in a hyperbolic context and was clearly without intent,” he said.
Olayinka added that Wike had already clarified his position during the live programme, stressing that he did not mean he would carry out any violent act.
He said the reaction of other journalists present, who laughed after the clarification, showed that the comment was understood in context.
Olayinka urged the public to disregard attempts to misrepresent the statement.
“It will amount to a hatchet job for anyone to take the comment out of context and use it for blackmail or propaganda,” he said.
He added that the minister’s position remains that journalists should maintain neutrality while performing their duties.
