TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF AVIATION, MR. FESTUS KEYAMO
Contrary to your account of events surrounding Mr. Peter Obi’s transit through the Abuja Airport on Saturday, July 4, it has become necessary to set the record straight.
Mr. Peter Obi does not have any police or civil defence personnel attached to him in Abuja, despite being entitled to VVIP protection by virtue of his status as a leading opposition figure in Nigeria. He certainly does not have a police officer serving as his driver. Your reference to a “police driver” appears to have been based on the assumption that he enjoys the level of security protection ordinarily accorded to someone of his standing. He does not.
Mr. Obi travels through multiple airports across Nigeria well over a dozen times every week. As someone who frequently travels with him, I have personally witnessed repeated instances of unusual discourtesy directed at him by some government personnel.
From your own account of events, it is evident that the incident Mr. Obi referred to during his interview occurred on a different date and at a different airport from the one referenced in your tweet.
However, let me address the incident you chose to publicise.
KEY CLARIFICATIONS
1. The incident you posted is entirely different from the one Mr. Peter Obi narrated in his interview. In that interview, he clearly stated: “I was there…” In the incident contained in your tweet, he was not present.
If we now have at least two separate incidents in which vehicles associated with Mr. Obi were clamped under questionable circumstances, does this not suggest a pattern of targeting an individual simply because of who he is?
2. The entire sequence of events you referenced, from arrival to the eventual clamping of the vehicle, lasted approximately five minutes.
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?
Do you not agree that half-truths can sometimes be more misleading than outright falsehoods?
3. Is it not a fact that several other vehicles were in the vicinity of Mr. Obi’s vehicle without attracting similar attention from airport officials? Indeed, some of those vehicles had been parked there long before Mr. Obi’s vehicle arrived, yet none was clamped.
4. I have personally been at the airport on several occasions when serving and former government officials arrived in large convoys, blocked access routes, and caused considerable inconvenience to the travelling public, without any agency of government taking similar action.
5. Under your watch, there have been other high-profile airport incidents, including:
The disruption involving Senator Adams Oshiomhole and airline staff.
The incident involving Mr. Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1), a known associate of the President, who allegedly attempted to prevent an aircraft from departing.
You are undoubtedly aware of both incidents.
Where was this same enthusiasm to instigate public outrage and issue official condemnations? Was CCTV footage from those incidents also released, or was the CCTV system only activated when it involved Mr. Peter Obi?
6. Can the publication of CCTV footage detailing Mr. Peter Obi’s movements on your personal social media platform be considered a serious breach of his personal security?
Your footage established no wrongdoing. Instead, you further exposed the movements of a leading opposition figure whose security concerns are already significant.
Would you release equivalent CCTV footage of other presidential candidates of Mr. Obi’s standing who travel in private and presidential aircraft funded by taxpayers?
Should a leading presidential candidate not be accorded security protocols consistent with democratic best practices?
They deliberately posted this CCTV footage to expose Peter Obi to harm.
Nothing in that footage proves any wrongdoing by Peter Obi or the security personnel who drove the vehicle.
If you frequent the airport, you will understand that it is standard for VIPs to park and pick up from that position.
Now imagine someone of Peter Obi's class.
It also proves that Peter Obi is very humble.
He does not move about with intimidating security guards, even though he deserves them.
No part of the video showed him flexing muscles with the idiots who targeted him.
I am very sure the idiot who clamped Peter Obi's car would not try it with the local government chairman of Agege or any low-budget House of Assembly member from any state and still keep his job the next minute.
You cannot claim not to be targeting a person, yet only his vehicle was clamped out of over eight vehicles that were parked in the same place, including the ones that had been parked longer.
Kayemo is weaponizing Obi's humility against him
But he should remember that power is transient
DEAR OPPOSITION — UNIFY UNDER PETER OBI
This is for the Labour Party stalwart. The PDP loyalist who has not crossed
over. The NNPP supporter. The ADC newcomer. The independent who cannot find a home.
I am not here to tell you your party failed. I am here to tell you the arithmetic.
Tinubu was declared winner 2023 with 36 percent of the vote. The opposition together took the rest.
The math has never been the problem. The math has always favoured us. The problem is that we ran three campaigns where we needed to run one — and the man who was said to came first in that split is the
man currently mortgaging your children's future.
2027 will not be won by the party with the loudest supporters. It will be won by the side
that learns to assemble itself.
Peter Obi is not the candidate of one camp. He is the candidate with the strongest record on the ballot, the broadest appeal across the regions, and the only campaign in 2023 that took Lagos from the man who claims to own it.
Unifying under him is not surrender. It is strategy. And unifying does not mean dissolving your party, your platform, or your principles. Your senator can still be your senator. Your governor can still be your governor. What we are asking is one
shared answer at the top of the ballot — and a shared commitment to govern together when we
win.
If you are a party operative, an organiser, a fundraiser, a strategist sitting inside
one of the opposition parties — we have a coordination channel for you. Not to replace what you are doing. To connect it.
The other side is unified. They are unified by stolen public money, but they are unified. We have to be unified by something stronger.
Visit https://t.co/VWJfhLpJZZ. Bring your party. Bring your network. Let us assemble.
Arise, O Compatriots.
Chance Visits to INEC Registration Centres
On my return to Anambra State yesterday, and on my way to attend some scheduled engagements, I made impromptu visits to the INEC voter registration centres at the Civic Centre, Nibo, and Nrijiofor Primary School, Nri.
I was pleased to see Nigerians registering to vote. I took the opportunity to commend those who had turned out and to encourage every eligible citizen to do the same. I reminded them that the journey to good governance does not begin on Election Day; it begins with voter registration. Registering to vote is not just a civic responsibility — it is an investment in the Nigeria we all desire.
I urged everyone who is eligible but has not yet registered to do so without delay. I also appealed to those who have already registered to encourage their family members, friends, neighbours, and colleagues to take advantage of the ongoing exercise before the deadline.
Every registered voter strengthens our democracy and brings us one step closer to building the secure, united, productive, and prosperous Nigeria we all seek.
A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO
Continuing his efforts to encourage more citizens to register for their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), Peter Obi made a brief stop at Loyola Grammar School alongside Pat Utomi, an alumnus of the school. He interacted with those registering for their PVCs and commended the INEC officials for their dedication and the work they were doing.
He also stopped at a mart along the way, where he purchased a few items and had a brief conversation with the manager about business, including how sales had been and the general state of operations.
One thing people always forget is that, Peter Obi is the person that drove Nigerians to vote. People stood in line because of him.
These people will not do it for Atiku or even Tinubu.
Atiku should back PO and rest✊