The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has accused the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, of deliberately lying about an incident at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Keyamo makes the allegation on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” programme, insisting that Mr Obi fabricated claims of being harassed at the airport because of his political affiliation.
“That man was lying. He lies like a fish drinking water. He lies. He lies for fun,” Keyamo says.
The minister maintains that it is unfair for an opposition candidate to allege harassment at a federal facility without allowing room for verification.
Keyamo had earlier given Mr Obi a one-week ultimatum to pay a fine and publicly apologise to workers at the airport, whom he says the former Anambra State governor portrayed as persecutors.
The dispute traces back to Saturday, 4 July 2026, when Mr Obi’s vehicle was clamped at the airport’s domestic terminal. Keyamo had said CCTV footage showed the vehicle, driven by a police officer, arriving at about 8:28 p.m. and being left in the drop-off zone beyond the permitted time, resulting in the clamping.
Mr Obi’s media office, in a statement by his spokesman, Idris Zekeri, has rejected Keyamo’s account, describing it as misleading and part of a pattern of political targeting against the NDC candidate. The statement argues that the incident Keyamo referenced differs from the one Mr Obi narrated in his interview, and questions the minister’s role in demanding an apology and a fine.
The disagreement has continued for several weeks, with both camps trading statements over the circumstances of the clamping and whether it reflects political targeting of the opposition figure ahead of the 2027 general election.
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