Lere Olayinka Counters Abati’s Comments on Kneeling Before Wike

Reuben Abati, the host of Arise TV, has come under fire from Lere Olayinka, a media assistant to Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, over his comments. Olayinka questions why Abati would kneel down to serve his “master.”

Abati attacked Lere on Tuesday’s Morning Show on Arise TV, comparing his service to Wike to the alleged sycophancy of some of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s appointees.

“The high point of it was when our good friend, Lere Olayinka, knelt down trying to serve his master,” he remarked. What’s this all about?

“Look, in the Nigerian government, sycophancy was the custom both before and after we were in office. President Jonathan would tell anyone kneeling in front of him to get up.

Indeed, I seen individuals crawling. This is how they act. However, Lere Olayinka is more knowledgeable about the game than some of us, so he will bow down to the master. Everything has a temporal limit.

In response, Lere said in a Facebook post that Abati’s lack of concentration while serving as the former president’s media adviser caused Jonathan to receive negative publicity.

“I am grateful that I was featured on Arise News this morning,” he wrote. Until the end of January 2026, try to keep going.

However, as I have argued, you wouldn’t have failed to sufficiently shield President Jonathan from the negative publicity he encountered if you had been as preoccupied with your work as his media adviser as you are with anything Wike these days.

I also hope that you are now less avaricious. Because you didn’t want the SSAs and SAs who worked for you to know that you were receiving a running grant, your greed caused one of your concubines to flee with millions of naira intended for operating your office.