Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Publicity and Communications to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has criticized former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd.), over his comments on the minister’s altercation with a naval officer in Abuja.

Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, Olayinka said he was surprised that Buratai was more focused on the minister’s confrontation with a uniformed officer than on the broader issue of military personnel being deployed for non-security duties.

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“When I read the statement by Tukur Buratai, I was like — a former Chief of Army Staff is not concerned about talking to a uniform man. He’s not concerned about military men who should be at the war front,” Olayinka said.

“Naval officers who should be in the Chad Basin confronting terrorists are being converted into private guards guarding uncompleted buildings. Which one is a security threat to Nigeria?” he added.

Olayinka maintained that the naval officer involved in the confrontation acted unlawfully, stressing that “not all orders are lawful.” He said Wike, as FCT Minister, had every right to question the presence of armed personnel on a disputed piece of land.

His remarks followed Buratai’s earlier warning that the altercation between Wike and the naval officer posed a “clear and present danger to national security.”

In a statement posted on his verified Facebook page on Tuesday, Buratai described the minister’s conduct as “a public humiliation of a soldier” and “an attack on the foundation of national order.”

He further advised Wike to issue a public apology to President Bola Tinubu and the naval officer.