Video: Wike condemns Turaki’s call for Trump intervention as reckless threat to democracy
Nyesom Wike
Abdullateef Fowewe
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, strongly condemned the factional PDP chairman, Tanimu Turaki, for urging United States President Donald Trump and Western nations to intervene in Nigeria’s political crisis.
Speaking during a courtesy visit from the South-South Development Commission board in Abuja, Wike described Turaki’s comments as “reckless, inflammatory, and a direct threat to national security.”
Turaki had alleged on Tuesday that Nigeria’s democracy was “under siege” following a clash between rival PDP factions, while accusing the government of an ongoing “genocide against Nigerian Christians” and appealing for foreign intervention to “save Nigeria’s democracy”.
Wike dismissed these claims as “irresponsible and dishonest,” stating, “Imagine the level of irresponsibility. You are calling on Donald Trump to come and save Nigeria’s democracy when you can’t obey a simple court judgment. Then you turn around and blame the government for your own impunity.”
Insisting the PDP crisis is internal, Wike said, “You cannot put your own house in order, yet you want to drag in foreign governments. What exactly is their business in your internal crisis? Our democracy is not under threat.”
He also challenged Turaki’s genocide allegation: “You went on national television claiming Christians are being killed in a genocide. By implication, you are accusing the government of orchestrating it. Where are the security agencies? Why has he not been invited to present whatever evidence he claims to have?”
The minister urged political actors to “stop trivialising national security matters in the name of partisan battles,” underscoring that Nigeria’s stability “must remain paramount.”
Notably, President Trump had threatened to invade Nigeria over the alleged genocide, sparking division among Nigerians—some supporting the threat and others rejecting it.
