By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
The bitter feud nursed against retired Major General Jamil Sarham, former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army’s 6 Division, by Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has been reawakened, following Wike’s fresh outburst on national television.
Heritage Times HT reports that Sarham, who (according to Wike) now serves in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) led my Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, recalls Wike targeting him since 2019 after he rejected a massive financial inducement to rig the Rivers State elections. According to him, the former governor branded him an enemy for refusing “billions of naira” offered to tilt the February 23 and March 9, 2019 polls that secured late Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election as president.
“My choice of professionalism and integrity over the billions offered me by Wike is the genesis of his hatred and ceaseless attacks against me,” Sarham said in a statement once signed by the Division’s then spokesman, Col. Aminu Iliyasu.
He dismissed as “false and spurious” Wike’s counter-allegations that he was involved in oil bunkering, leaked security council secrets to criminals, or plotted an assassination attempt on the governor. The Army also noted that Sarham was never part of Rivers State Security Council meetings and only met Wike publicly during the 2019 Armed Forces Remembrance Day parade.
“The claim that Maj.-Gen. Sarham engaged in illegal oil bunkering is another reckless fabrication,” the Army said, urging Wike to pursue lawful channels if he had evidence. It further recalled that Wike had, since February 2019, accused Sarham of masterminding a failed assassination attempt, yet never took steps to substantiate the allegation.
Wike’s Fresh Allegations
Wike reignited the controversy in a Channels Television interview last Thursday, accusing Sarham of ordering his assassination during the 2019 Rivers governorship election. He claimed the retired general acted on the prompting of his political rival, Rotimi Amaechi, who allegedly promised him the Chief of Army Staff position in return for tilting the polls.
“In 2019, a GOC called General Sarham—I hear he works with the NSA now—the man was bought. He never saw me as a sitting governor. General Sarham ordered that I should be shot,” Wike alleged ok love television.
He further claimed that the Division’s headquarters was converted into “an INEC office” to rig the process in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and that the officer assigned to carry out his killing refused, only to be detained for six months.
Wike’s Style of Politics
Now Abuja’s minister, Wike through his routine ‘Media Chat’, has continued to use media platforms to lash out at perceived enemies, often avoiding core governance issues in the capital city. Critics argue that his public attacks are less about accountability and governance, and more about vendettas against those who resisted his influence.
Analysts say his latest claims against Sarham lack credibility, pointing out that both the Army and independent observers had long dismissed them as baseless and inconsistent.
EFCC’s Shadow
This is not Wike’s first brush with controversy. In 2008, while serving as Chief of Staff to Governor Amaechi, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detained him over an alleged ₦300 million fraud. The case saw EFCC freeze state accounts and one of Wike’s personal accounts before he and others sought a “political solution” in Abuja.
Heritage Times HT reports that the FCT Minister is also engaged in a spat activist and Publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore. Only recently, Wike’s aide, Lere Olayinka, lashed out Sowore over his claim that President Bola Tinubu and Wike were plotting to assassinate him. Olayinka dismissed the allegation as baseless “mind games,” accusing Sowore of using such claims to sustain his lifestyle.
In his reaction, Sowore in a statement posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account last Thursday, accused Wike of gross misconduct during his political career, saying he ought to be facing justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
About Gen. Sarham
Major General Jamil Sarham (Rtd.) is a seasoned infantry officer and the 29th Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), widely respected for his no-nonsense approach to leadership and discipline.
Before his appointment to the NDA in 2019, he served as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 6 Division, Port Harcourt, where he earned a reputation for firmness and integrity. At the NDA, Sarham pledged to produce quality junior leaders capable of upholding the constitutional mandate of the Nigerian Armed Forces, emphasizing teamwork, discipline, and professionalism as core values. His wealth of experience and exposure positioned him as a thorough-bred officer, tasked with raising the next generation of military leaders.
Sarham’s tenure as Commandant is famously remembered for his uncompromising stance on discipline. In one notable instance, he dismissed cadets just days before their passing out parade for violating academy rules by sneaking women into their hostels. Despite pressure from their influential parents and lobbying at the National Assembly, he stood firm on his decision, demonstrating his belief that the military’s moral and ethical standards must never be compromised.
