Wike Acts Like Co-President by Sending Thugs to Assault FIRS Employees

Just a day after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued a clear 14-day grace period for property owners to settle ground rent, officials from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) descended on the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) headquarters—not to enforce the directive, but to incite disorder.

Arabinrin Aderonke, the Senior Special Assistant to the FIRS Chairman, reported that the FCTA was prepared for violence. An officer from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), allegedly acting on FCTA orders, brutally assaulted her colleague, the SA Protocol to the FIRS Chairman, leaving him injured. This isn’t law enforcement; it’s thuggery in uniform.

Let’s be clear: the FIRS is not exempt from ground rent obligations. If they haven’t paid, proper procedure would be to issue a notice and allow the presidential 14-day grace period to pass. However, today’s events raise serious concerns. Who authorized the FCTA to disregard a presidential directive? Why target a federal agency so boldly? Is Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the FCT, acting as if he’s a co-president with his own rules?

This morning’s violent act was not only humiliating but also a troubling display of impunity. If civil servants in Abuja can be assaulted in their offices despite an existing presidential order, then no one is safe.

President Tinubu must rein in his appointees and remind them who holds the authority, or else Wike’s power maneuver could lead to chaos.