‘You Are Lucky’ – Wike Sends Message to Sowore for Calling Tinubu a Criminal

The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has aimed at African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore over his tweet describing President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”

On August 25, Sowore had tweeted, referencing a video of Tinubu during his visit to Brazil, claiming,
“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!”

Following the tweet, the Department of State Services (DSS) filed criminal charges against Sowore for defamation, alleging that his statements violated Nigeria’s Cybercrimes and Terrorism Prevention laws.

The agency also requested that social media platforms X and Meta remove the tweet, citing it as a threat to national security and public order.

Sowore, however, refused to delete the tweet, describing the DSS action as an attempt to silence dissent and calling it “despicable.”

Reacting to this, Wike said Sowore was “lucky” that Tinubu believed in the rule of law, warning that he might not be so fortunate under another leader.

“This is a country where somebody on social media can call the President a criminal and nothing happens. You say all kinds of things you want to say, and nothing happens.

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

“But here, anyone 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 with again,” Wike said.