The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has clarified his comment made during a media chat on Channels Television, stating that the remark was made figuratively and not intended as a threat.
The clarification was made by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the minister, in a statement issued on Saturday.
Olayinka said the minister’s comment during the interview with Channels Television anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, had been misunderstood.
According to Olayinka, Wike did not mean that he would harm the television presenter and had only used exaggeration to express his displeasure during the discussion.
“The Minister never meant that he will shoot Seun Okinbaloye. They even spoke on phone today, and he (Okinbaloye) understood what the minister meant,” the statement said.
He explained that Wike had been disappointed because he held the journalist in high regard but believed Okinbaloye’s comments took a political turn.
“What the minister meant, which he made clear during the media chat, was that he was angry seeing Okinbaloye, whom he holds in high esteem as a journalist, descending into the political arena by speaking as an interested party instead of an interviewer,” Olayinka said.
The aide added that the remark was made in a hyperbolic context and was not meant to be interpreted literally.
“The statement made by the Minister was in hyperbolic context, which was clearly without intent. It was primarily using exaggeration to make a point,” he explained.
Olayinka also noted that the minister clarified his statement during the live broadcast.
According to him, the interview panel, which included Chamberlain Uzor, the Head of Channels Television’s Abuja Office, understood the context of the comment.
“Even after the Minister made the clarifications on the live television program, which had Chamberlain Uzor as part of the interviewers, all the journalists who were interviewing him just laughed,” he said.
Olayinka cautioned individuals and groups against misrepresenting the minister’s statement for political purposes.
He said taking the comment out of context would amount to a deliberate attempt to distort the facts.
“After the Minister’s detailed explanations of what he meant, including saying on the live television program that he didn’t mean that he will carry a 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 said.
The aide therefore urged the public not to allow the remark to be used for political propaganda.
“The public is therefore urged to discountenance the use of the comment as an instrument of blackmail and propaganda by those whose intent is to misrepresent facts for their political gains,” the statement added.
