The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has faulted calls by the factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umar Turaki, SAN, for the US President Donald Trump’s intervention in Nigeria, insisting that the nation’s democracy is not under threat.
Wike stated this on Wednesday during a courtesy visit by the board members of the South-South Development Commission, led by Chairman Chibudom Nwuche, to his office.
Turaki, on Tuesday, urged President Trump and other advanced democracies to intervene and “save Nigeria’s democracy,” following the showdown between rival factions of the PDP at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Responding, Wike said the statement amounted to a threat to national security, noting that Turaki’s faction had refused to obey court judgments, which he described as an act of impunity.
He added that Turaki could not blame the administration of President Bola Tinubu for the PDP’s internal crisis, insisting that the country’s democracy was stable.
“Look at a threat to national security. You are calling on Trump to come and save your democracy when you cannot obey a simple court judgment. Simple court judgment: don’t do this until you have done this.
“Now you are turning it around against a government. What is their business? You cannot keep your house in order; you are blaming an outsider for not keeping your house in order.
“Who does that? You are calling on Trump to come and save your democracy. Our democracy is not under threat. People went to court to challenge what you are doing. Then you think, as usual, impunity—let’s do it. We can’t continue that way,” he said.
The former Rivers State Governor also noted that Turaki’s comments amounted to alleging an ongoing genocide in Nigeria, saying security agencies should have invited him for clarification.
“You come out and make a statement on national television to say, look, it is not only killing — genocide against Christians.
“In essence, you have come out to tell the world that what this government is doing is carrying out genocide against Christians. And where are the security agencies?
“For somebody to make such a statement, you won’t invite them to come and say, ‘Maybe you know better; you have facts. Kindly give us so that we will know what to do.’ You don’t want to say anything. But if it is Wike— kill him!” Wike said.