The ongoing verbal warfare between the Federal Government and the opposition escalated dramatically over the weekend as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Obi, aggressively fired back at the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN).
Obi accused Keyamo of acting as a law unto himself and orchestrating a calculated campaign of political targeting.
The furious pushback follows a seven-day ultimatum issued by Keyamo on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Keyamo, citing an internal Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) investigation, ordered Obi to issue a public apology to airport workers and pay a N25,000 towing penalty for allegedly abandoning his vehicle in a restricted zone at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on July 4.
However, in a scathing counter-offensive released by Obi’s media spokesperson, Zekeri Idris, the NDC leader charged that Keyamo’s publicised CCTV footage was a doctored, misleading narrative engineered to paint him as a lawbreaker for cheap political mileage.
“The Minister is conflating separate events”
The Obi Media Office stated that Keyamo deliberately manipulated facts by uploading footage from an incident where Obi was completely absent, attempting to confuse it with a completely separate encounter that the opposition leader had publicly criticised.
“The incident you posted is entirely different from the one Mr Peter Obi narrated in his interview,” Idris clarified. “In that interview, he clearly stated: ‘I was there…’ In the incident contained in your tweet, he was not present.”
Idris maintained that if security operatives are repeatedly clamping vehicles tied to Obi under highly questionable pretences, it points directly to an orchestrated pattern of systemic state harassment aimed at suppressing the leading opposition figure ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle.
The 5-minute drop-off window
While Keyamo’s investigative report claimed that Obi’s vehicle was abandoned by a “police driver” in a restricted VVIP zone for nearly 30 minutes, Obi’s team completely dismantled the timeline, asserting that the vehicle was stationary for less than five minutes.
“The entire sequence of events you referenced, from arrival to the eventual clamping of the vehicle, lasted approximately five minutes,” the statement argued.
“At most airports around the world, including major international airports, a ten-minute drop-off window is generally considered acceptable. Where, then, did the claim of 30 minutes originate?”
The spokesperson further questioned why multiple other vehicles parked in the exact same perimeter long before Obi’s arrival were completely ignored by FAAN security operatives, while Obi’s car was immediately singled out for enforcement.
The media office also vehemently denied Keyamo’s assertions that Obi was travelling with state security, revealing that the federal government has deliberately stripped the opposition leader of baseline VVIP protections.
“Mr. Peter Obi does not have any police or civil defence personnel attached to him in Abuja… He certainly does not have a police officer serving as his driver,” Idris noted.
A grave VVIP security breach
The NDC candidate took severe exception to Keyamo publishing raw airport CCTV data tracking his physical movements on the minister’s personal social media platform, describing it as an irresponsible and dangerous breach of a VVIP’s personal safety.
Idris noted that previous parking or airport altercations involving prominent ruling party figures, such as former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole and Fuji music icon Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1), were handled with administrative discretion, without public ultimatums or leaked surveillance feeds.
“You further threatened to direct FAAN to take unspecified action against Mr Obi,” Idris slammed Keyamo. “Are you the accuser, the investigator, the judge, and the executioner in the same matter? As Minister of Aviation, are you now positioning yourself as the law itself? Mr Keyamo, are you the Law?”
The statement concluded by noting that the unfolding drama goes far beyond a routine parking ticket, describing it as a fundamental litmus test for the neutrality of state institutions, equal protection under the law, and the preservation of constitutional democracy in Nigeria.
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