Wike /Navy Spat: Minister Defended Civilian Supremacy, Says Ex-Lawmaker

A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Johnson Egwakhide Oghuma, has said that Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, didn’t defend a piece of land, but the very principle of civilian supremacy on which democracy rested.

Oghuma said the officer’s conduct was a betrayal of both discipline and duty.

The former lawmaker, who spoke in a statement issued in Benin City, said the uniform remained a national symbol and not a license for impunity or be used as a weapon against the law it was sworn to protect.

Oghuma said the officer desecrated the uniform and undermined the honour of the institution he represented when he abandoned his professional duty to act as an enforcer in a land dispute.

According to him, “What cannot be tolerated is a situation where armed personnel intimidate civil authorities or obstruct lawful administrative processes.

Such conduct is nothing short of an abuse of power and a direct affront to civilian governance.

“The lesson from this episode is that the rule of law must remain supreme. Ministers, soldiers, and civilians alike are bound by the same legal framework. The FCTA should publish the full documentation on the disputed land to reinforce transparency, while the Defence authorities must reaffirm their commitment to non-interference in civil matters.

“If the incident leads to disciplinary action, public accountability, and renewed respect for due process, it would mark a positive turning point for governance in the Federal Capital Territory. Abuja cannot be a city where might overrides right. The capital should be a model of lawful order — where even those in uniform bow to the authority of law.”

“Minister Wike’s response, therefore, was not merely a personal reaction but an assertion of the authority of civil institutions over unlawful force. The FCT Administration is constitutionally empowered to regulate land ownership and urban development within Abuja.

“If that authority can be defied by a handful of armed officers, then the entire structure of urban administration collapses into impunity. In this light, Wike’s insistence that ‘no one is above the law’ is both timely and necessary”.