ABUJA, NIGERIA – The war of words between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and Channels Television escalated on Thursday as the Minister insisted that media organisations are profit-driven entities that derive immense commercial value from government land allocations.
Responding to an earlier rebuttal from the station, which denied any impropriety regarding its Abuja headquarters, Wike argued that the use of public land to run a revenue-generating enterprise is, in itself, a form of profiting from government resources.
The Profitability Argument
The Minister dismissed the station’s claim that its Guzape headquarters was legally acquired in 2007 as irrelevant to the broader point of commercial benefit. He maintained that since media houses charge for advertisements, “commercial news,” and live coverage, they cannot claim to be separate from the business interests that benefit from state land.
“Media organisations are not set up for charity; they are for business. They do adverts and collect money,” Wike stated. He further explained that by providing land, the government creates the platform for these stations to operate, pay staff, and generate profit, making them beneficiaries of the FCT’s administrative benevolence.
The Transparency Challenge
The Minister’s remarks followed a direct challenge from Channels Television during its breakfast programme, The Morning Brief. The station had dared Wike to publish a full list of journalists who have purportedly been allotted land in the FCT, after the Minister insinuated that several members of the press were beneficiaries of such deals.
Channels TV had also defended its integrity, stating that charging for live airtime—including the Minister’s own media chat—is a standard and transparent industry practice. The station maintained that all statutory fees for its Guzape plot were settled in full nearly two decades ago, long before the current administration.
Standoff Over Disclosures
While the station has demanded a name-by-name disclosure of “land-owning journalists,” the Minister has focused the conversation on the institutional benefits received by media houses. He argued that the government is a continuum, and the benefits enjoyed by the station today are a result of the FCT’s land policy, regardless of which year the papers were signed.
As the tension between the FCT administration and one of the country’s leading broadcasters continues, the public remains focused on whether the Minister will eventually release the list of individual beneficiaries he alluded to during his initial media chat.
