*Accuses Tinubu Government Of Attacking Freedom Of Speech
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The African Democratic Congress has condemned the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for threatening to shoot Channels Television presenter Seun Okinbaloye, accusing the Tinubu administration of systematically targeting critics after allegedly undermining opposition parties.
ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in a post on Saturday, described Wike’s remarks as “irresponsible and unacceptable,” adding that such behaviour represents a direct attack on freedom of speech.
The controversy arose from remarks made by Minister Wike while reacting to the journalist’s comment that a one-party system could destroy democracy in Nigeria.
Wike stated: “If there was any way to break the screen (of the television), I would have shot him.”
The statement was directed at Okinbaloye, a Political Correspondent and anchor of Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
In his reaction, Abdullahi did not mince words in condemning the minister’s threat.
“Wike threatening to shoot Seun Okinbaloye from Channels Television for doing his job as a journalist is irresponsible and unacceptable,” Abdullahi wrote.
“This must be condemned by all lovers of freedom of speech.”
The ADC spokesman drew a direct link between the threat against the journalist and what the party describes as the government’s systematic undermining of opposition parties.
“After destroying opposition parties, they now want to start shooting journalists,” Abdullahi stated.
The statement reflects the ADC’s ongoing dispute with INEC and the Tinubu administration over the party’s leadership crisis, which has left the opposition party unable to conduct congresses or conventions ahead of the 2027 elections.
The ADC has repeatedly accused INEC of colluding with the ruling APC to weaken opposition parties, a claim the electoral commission has denied.
The ADC’s framing of Wike’s threat as part of a broader pattern of suppression echoes concerns raised by other opposition figures and civil society organisations.
Human rights lawyer Chidi Odinkalu had earlier accused Wike of “drunken excess” and questioned the silence of regulators, while 14 press freedom and civil society organisations issued a joint statement demanding that the minister retract his statement and apologise.
The ADC’s reaction situates Wike’s threat against Okinbaloye within a broader narrative of democratic backsliding under the Tinubu administration.
By linking the threat to the alleged destruction of opposition parties, the ADC is arguing that the government’s intolerance of criticism has now extended from political opponents to the media.
For the opposition party currently embroiled in a leadership crisis that has seen INEC refuse to recognise any faction, the threat against a journalist who questioned the emergence of a one-party state is particularly resonant.
Okinbaloye’s comment that prompted Wike’s outburst — that a one-party system could destroy democracy in Nigeria — is precisely the concern that the ADC and other opposition parties have been raising about the current political trajectory.
The convergence of attacks on opposition parties and threats against journalists who question the government creates what critics describe as a shrinking civic space ahead of the 2027 elections.
For Minister Wike, the condemnations continue to mount — from Amnesty International to 14 civil society organisations to opposition parties. The question remains whether President Tinubu will take action against a cabinet member whose rhetoric is being described as a threat to both press freedom and democratic discourse.
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