Former presidential aide and Arise TV Morning Show anchor, Dr. Reuben Abati, has criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over his alleged conduct of allocating political positions to individuals ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Abati accused Wike of behaving as though he had the authority to dictate political choices to Nigerians, arguing that elective offices in a democracy should be determined by voters rather than distributed by influential political figures.
He made the remarks on Friday during the What’s Trending segment of Arise TV’s Morning Show, hosted by Ojy Okpe.
Abati’s comments followed the circulation of a video purportedly showing Wike assigning political positions to associates during a rally in Rivers State.
According to Abati, Wike declared that President Bola Tinubu would retain the presidency in 2027 before outlining candidates for various elective positions, including governor, senator, members of the House of Representatives and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The former presidential aide questioned the minister’s approach, particularly the apparent public designation of individuals for political offices before the elections.
“Wike and Senator Umahi and all of them, they are working for the same purpose, to make sure that President Tinubu is elected. So, they are family in that regard,” Abati said.
“But what I don’t understand is the way Minister Wike, for example, behaves as if he can dictate to everybody.”
Abati Questions Wike’s Role in Political Selections
Describing the video circulating online, Abati expressed concern over what he characterised as the allocation of political positions at a public rally.
“There is one video in circulation. He had an event in the Rivers where he was practically sharing positions, telling at a rally, telling people the president of Nigeria, that’s the President Tinubu, will take presidency. He will take governorship. He will take all the Senate members. And he was calling the people there to step forward, saying yes, vote for this one,” Abati said.
He further alleged that Wike went on to announce individuals for legislative positions after discussing the presidency and governorship.
“It’s then after allocating positions to the president, he now said he as Wike, it’s not good that he too doesn’t take something. Then he called out one person who will go to House of Reps, then some boys or some of his boys who will go to House of Assembly, and people were excited. He was allocating seats,” Abati added.
Abati Says Voters Should Decide Political Leadership
Reiterating his position, Abati maintained that no individual should exercise the kind of authority implied by the alleged allocation of political offices.
He stressed that the power to elect public officeholders belongs to Nigerians through the democratic process.
“No. Nobody should have that kind of power. It should be the Nigerian people, the electorate that should vote. But as for their family, yeah, they have the right to work together,” he said.
Abati’s remarks highlight the debate over political influence and the role of voters in determining who occupies elective positions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is the team responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing news and feature content on Julian Daily Gist. Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories. We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, and responsibly sourced information.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team researches, writes, edits, and publishes news and feature content covering Nigerian current affairs, entertainment, sports, health, business, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide accurate, timely, and responsibly sourced information and update our reports when credible new information becomes available.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Team BIo:
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Editorial Policy:
At Julian Daily Gist, our goal is to provide readers with timely, useful, accurate, and responsibly presented news and information.
We cover Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, human-interest stories, and other topics of interest to our readers.
1. Accuracy and Verification
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that information published on Julian Daily Gist is accurate and presented in its proper context.
Before publishing a report, our editorial team makes reasonable efforts to:
- Check information against credible sources.
- Verify names, dates, locations, figures, and other important details.
- Attribute information to the appropriate source.
- Distinguish confirmed facts from allegations, claims, opinions, and speculation.
- Update stories when credible new information becomes available.
When information cannot be independently verified, we make this clear to readers rather than presenting it as established fact.
2. Sources
We use a range of sources, including:
- Official government statements.
- Police and security agencies.
- Courts and legal documents.
- Government agencies.
- Direct interviews and statements.
- Reputable news organizations.
- Publicly available records.
- Verified social media accounts and statements.
When an article relies substantially on information reported by another publication, we aim to clearly attribute the information to that source.
We do not intentionally present another publication's reporting as our own.
3. Originality
Julian Daily Gist aims to provide original editorial value.
When we report information that has already been published elsewhere, we seek to add value through original writing, context, verification, analysis, additional information, or other useful material.
We do not intentionally copy and republish articles from other websites without appropriate attribution and meaningful editorial contribution.
4. Allegations and Sensitive Claims
When reporting allegations involving individuals or organizations, we make reasonable efforts to clearly identify allegations as allegations.
We avoid presenting unproven accusations as established facts.
Where relevant, we seek or include responses from the person, organization, or representative concerned.
For criminal matters, we recognize that an allegation, arrest, charge, or accusation does not by itself establish guilt.
5. Headlines
Our headlines are intended to accurately reflect the content of our articles.
We aim to avoid deliberately misleading headlines, fabricated claims, or headlines that exaggerate facts simply to generate clicks.
6. Corrections and Updates
We take corrections seriously.
If we discover that an article contains a significant factual error, we may correct or update the article as appropriate.
Readers who identify an error are encouraged to contact us with specific information supporting the correction.
Where appropriate, significant corrections or updates may be noted within the article.
7. Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are made independently of advertisers, sponsors, commercial partners, and other external interests.
Advertising or sponsorship does not automatically influence our editorial decisions or the opinions expressed by our writers.
8. Sponsored and Promotional Content
Where Julian Daily Gist publishes sponsored, paid, or promotional content, we aim to clearly identify it as such.
Sponsored content does not necessarily represent the independent editorial views of Julian Daily Gist.
9. Conflicts of Interest
Our editorial team should avoid situations where personal, financial, or other interests could improperly influence reporting.
Where a relevant conflict of interest exists, we aim to disclose it when appropriate.
10. Use of Images and Other Media
We aim to use images, videos, graphics, and other media responsibly and with appropriate permission, licensing, attribution, or other lawful basis where required.
We do not knowingly use copyrighted material in a manner that infringes the rights of its owner.
If you believe that material published on Julian Daily Gist infringes your copyright, please contact us so that we can review the matter.
11. Artificial Intelligence
We may use technology and artificial intelligence tools to assist with certain editorial tasks, such as research support, proofreading, formatting, transcription, or drafting assistance.
However, AI-generated information is not treated as automatically accurate. Content remains subject to human review, editing, fact-checking, and editorial judgment before publication where appropriate.
We do not intentionally publish fabricated information generated by AI.
12. Privacy and Personal Information
We take reasonable care when handling personal information and avoid publishing unnecessary private information about individuals.
Sensitive personal information is published only when there is a legitimate public-interest reason and where appropriate.
Our handling of visitor information is explained in our Privacy Policy.
13. Opinion and Commentary
Opinion articles and commentary represent the views expressed by the respective writer or contributor.
Where appropriate, opinion content will be identified as commentary, analysis, or opinion so that readers can distinguish it from straightforward news reporting.
14. User-Generated Content
Comments and other material submitted by readers may be moderated.
We reserve the right to remove content that is unlawful, defamatory, abusive, discriminatory, misleading, threatening, spam-related, or otherwise inappropriate.
User comments do not necessarily represent the views of Julian Daily Gist.
15. Our Commitment
We are committed to improving the quality, accuracy, transparency, and usefulness of Julian Daily Gist.
As our publication grows, we will continue reviewing our editorial practices and updating this policy when necessary.
16. Contact and Corrections
If you have a correction, clarification, complaint, copyright concern, or question about our editorial practices, please contact us through our Contact Us page.
