VIDEO: ‘Gbewudani’ Row — Drama As Arise TV Ends Interview After Wike’s Aide Rejects Rufai Oseni’s Questions

Newslens NG reports that there was drama on Arise Television on Friday after Lere Olayinka, media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, declined to answer a question from the station’s anchor, Rufai Oseni, during a live broadcast.

The incident occurred on The Morning Show and led to the abrupt termination of Olayinka’s interview after he maintained that he would not respond to questions from Oseni.

According to reports, Olayinka was asked by Oseni to respond to a question, but the Wike aide immediately objected.

“I don’t want to answer any question from you, Oseni Rufai. I want this conversation to be among reasonable human beings. People who won’t describe other people as ‘Gbewudani’,” Olayinka said.

His response appeared to reference comments previously made by Oseni during Thursday’s edition of the programme.
Another anchor, Mario Esse, intervened, reminding Olayinka that The Morning Show has three anchors and that the interview could not continue if he refused to engage one of them. With Olayinka maintaining his position, the programme subsequently ended the interview.

The latest incident followed a heated exchange on the same programme a day earlier involving Oseni and fellow anchor Reuben Abati.

During Thursday’s broadcast, Oseni had been discussing Wike’s declaration that he would support President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election, despite Wike remaining a national leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Oseni questioned why Wike would support Tinubu instead of the PDP’s presidential candidate, Sandy Onor.

While making his point, Oseni described Onor as a “Gbewudani,” a Yoruba expression he explained as meaning “hold my clothes,” suggesting that the PDP candidate was merely standing by while Wike backed Tinubu. Oseni also made comments concerning the APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sarafadeen Alli.

Abati subsequently cautioned his colleague, warning that his comments could expose both him and the station to legal action.
“Rufai, be careful, you’ll bring lawsuits on this station that the station will never be able to pay,” Abati reportedly told him.

Oseni, however, rejected the warning, saying Abati tended to raise the issue of lawsuits when he disagreed with his views. The controversy has since attracted political reaction, with Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, throwing his weight behind Olayinka.

Bwala accused Oseni and Mario Esse of lacking objectivity and alleged that they were sympathetic to the political camp of former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi.

He praised Olayinka for challenging the anchors, while alleging that the incident exposed what he described as double standards and blackmail.

Bwala’s comments are, however, his own political assessment and allegations, rather than independently established findings.
The confrontation has since gone viral on social media, with Nigerians debating whether Olayinka was justified in refusing to answer Oseni or whether a guest on a programme should be prepared to engage all the programme’s designated anchors.

The incident also adds another chapter to the public disagreements between Olayinka and Oseni, who have previously clashed on air over questions concerning journalism, political commentary and Wike’s administration.