Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has come forward to address recent remarks by activist and African Action Congress presidential hopeful, Omoyele Sowore. Sowore had ignited controversy with a tweet on August 25, in which he labeled President Bola Tinubu a "criminal." In that tweet, Sowore referenced a video from Tinubu’s visit to Brazil, where the President allegedly claimed that Nigeria is now free of corruption.

“This criminal @officialpbat actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!" Sowore wrote.

The aftermath was swift. Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) pressed criminal charges against Sowore for defamation, accusing him of spreading falsehoods that threaten national security and breach cybersecurity laws. They even called on social media giants, X and Meta, to remove the tweet, citing it as a threat to public order.

Sowore refused to back down. He argued that the DSS was trying to silence dissent and dismissed their actions as “despicable.”

Responding to the situation, Wike spoke at the launch of the construction of Arterial Road N1 in Wuye on Thursday. He remarked that Sowore was “lucky” that President Tinubu believed in the rule of law, hinting that he might not be as fortunate with a different leader.

“This is a country where somebody on social media will say Mr President is a criminal; nothing will happen. You say all kinds of things you want to say, but nothing will happen.

“No matter how you see people criticise Trump, have you ever seen any American citizen on social media, or in the public, say our President is a criminal? Have you heard that?

“But here, anybody can wake up in the morning and abuse the President, and we are happy. You are lucky you have a President who believes in the rule of law. You are lucky. Continue to be lucky. There are those you will meet that you won’t be lucky again,” Wike said.

ASA