A public feud has erupted between prominent media personalities following a segment on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Tuesday, the 30th of December, 2025. The exchange began when host Reuben Abati criticized Lere, the current media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
During the broadcast, Abati took aim at Olayinka’s conduct, specifically questioning why he would kneel down to serve his master. Drawing parallels to his own time in the corridors of power, Abati remarked:
“The high point of it was when our good friend, Lere Olayinka, knelt down trying to serve his master. What is all this?”
Abati further elaborated on the culture of Nigerian politics, stating, “Look, when we were in government, sycophancy was the tradition then, before and after, generally in the Nigerian government. When people knelt down before President Jonathan, he would tell them to stand up.”
He concluded his critique by suggesting a lack of longevity in such behavior, noting: “In fact, I saw people crawling. This is how they behave. But Lere Olayinka understands the game more than some of us, so he will kneel down and serve the master. There is a time limit to all of this.”
Reacting, Lere said in a Facebook post” that the former president’s public image suffered precisely because of Abati’s performance.
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Lere Olayinka… has slammed Arise TV host Reuben Abati over the latter’s remarks,” claiming that “Jonathan suffered from bad press due to Abati’s lack of focus during his time as Media Adviser to the former president.”
In a pointed response directed at the broadcaster, Olayinka wrote: “I thank you for making me a topic on Arise News this morning. Try and continue till the end of January 2026.”
“But as I have maintained, if you had been this focused on your job as President Jonathan’s Media Adviser, the way you are fixated with anything Wike now, you wouldn’t have failed to adequately protect him (Jonathan) against the bad press he faced as President.”
Olayinka ended his rebuttal with a personal jab regarding financial conduct, stating: “And I hope you are less greedy now. That greed, which made one of your concubines run away with millions of naira meant for running your office, just because you didn’t want those working with you as SSAs and SAs to know what you were receiving as a running grant.”