‘I Can’t Determine Relations Between Countries’ Wike Speaks On Israeli Envoy’s Visit

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that he has no constitutional powers to determine Nigeria’s diplomatic relations with other countries, as such powers lie absolutely with the President and Commander-in-Chief, Bola Tinubu.

The Minister, who made this known at a recent meeting with the leadership of the Abuja National Mosque Management Board, provided clarifications on his October 3, 2023 meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, and strongly dismissed as baseless and untrue, insinuations that he expressed support for Israel against Palestine.

Wike said: “I have heard from various social media platforms that we had a meeting that we are doing this and that with Israel. I am here acting on the delegation of powers on behalf of Mr. President.

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“I cannot determine a relationship between a country and another country. So, it is difficult for anybody to say ‘I am doing this, I am doing that’.

“Any foreign body that wants to have anything to do with Nigeria, it is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who will write to me and state that these people want to see me; it is simple. And when they come, it is in my position to say ‘look, we want to partner with you’. Take for instance, you are going into agriculture and we want to partner, then we tell you where exactly,” he explained.

The minister further clarified that his meeting with the Israeli Ambassador was purely for agricultural partnership in the interest of farmers in the FCT.

“In Abuja here, most of them have cultural farms and we say look, it is our desire to help anybody who wants to invest in Abuja particularly in agriculture to employ our people and to get more revenue. It has nothing to do with another country. It doesn’t work that way.

“When our people begin to think from different angles, people may not understand that it is not correct. So, I will like to use this opportunity to say look we have to talk to our people. We must live harmoniously. We must live together to make sure that development is promoted,” Wike stated.

The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, had on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, visited the FCT minister days before Hamas militants attacked Israel and the consequent and continued retaliation by the Jewish nation.

However, despite the gap between the visit and the eruption of conflict between the Palestinian group and Israel, some clerics had accused Wike of offering Nigeria’s support to Israel over the conflict.

Freeman had during the visit expressed his country’s willingness to work with Nigeria to generate employment opportunities for the unemployed population, transform Abuja into a technology hub, and engage in agricultural partnerships.

In response, Wike conveyed Nigeria’s commitment to partnering with Israel in the field of Information Technology with a plan to establish a Technology Village in Abuja.

He also highlighted the favourable climate in Abuja, suggesting a collaborative effort to create a large technology-driven farm that could employ many youths.

Furthermore, Wike sought Israel’s assistance in enhancing Nigeria’s technological security measures to strengthen national security.