- Safiu Kehinde
Former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (Rtd), has expressed his displeasure with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, over his confrontation of a uniformed Naval officer, labelling it a threat to national security.
NPO Reported that clash had yesterday ensued between the officials of the FCT Administration led by Wike and a team of Naval officers over a disputed land owned by a former Chief of Naval Staff.
As captured in a now viral video shared on social media, the officers had denied Wike and the FCTA officials access to the land which the Minister alleged to have been illegally grabbed by the retired Naval Chief.
Despite his presence, the officers denied the Minister’s access, insisting that they were acting based on order.
This had led to a fierce confrontation between Wike and the team leader.
The FCT Minister openly called the team leader a fool as he defiantly held his ground.
A visibly angry and frustrated Wike eventually left the site while vowing to ensure the seizure of the property and stoppage of the construction project on the land.
Reacting to the development in a post on his Facebook page, Buratai slammed Wike for publicly disparaging a uniformed man.
This, he warned, represented a palpable threat to national security and institutional integrity.
The ex-COAS described Wike’s verbal assault on the officer as an act of indiscipline and disrespect to President Bola Tinubu who is the Commander-in-Chief.
Buratai deamnded that the FCT Minister tender an immediate public apology to Tinubu, the entire Armed Forces, and the officer as he labelled the confrontation a reckless endangerment of national order.
The post read; “The events of November 11, 2025, involving the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike, demand an immediate and serious response.
“His public disparagement of a uniformed officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces transcends mere misconduct; it represents a palpable threat to national security and institutional integrity.
“A minister’s verbal assault on a military officer in uniform is an act of profound indiscipline that strikes at the core of our nation’s command and control structure.
“It deliberately undermines the chain of command, disrespects the authority of the Commander-in-Chief, and grievously wounds the morale of every individual who serves under the Nigerian flag.
“Such actions erode the very foundation of discipline upon which our national security apparatus stands.
“This cannot be dismissed as political theatre. It is a reckless endangerment of national order. This action by Wike is clearly an indication of undermining the federal government’s authority.
“Consequently, Barrister Nyesom Wike must tender an immediate and unequivocal public apology to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Commander-in-Chief, the entire Armed Forces of Nigeria, and the specific officer whose honour was violated.
“Our nation’s security must come first. It is time for decisive action, not politics of military bashing. The integrity of our Armed Forces demands nothing less.”