The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has asked the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to publicly apologise to airport workers and pay a N25,000 fine over what he described as a violation of parking regulations at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja….
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has asked the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to publicly apologise to airport workers and pay a N25,000 fine over what he described as a violation of parking regulations at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Keyamo issued the demand in a statement on Friday after ordering an internal investigation into Obi’s allegation that the tyres of his vehicle were unjustly clamped at the airport as part of what he described as a persecution by the Federal Government.
According to the minister, CCTV footage from the airport showed that Obi’s vehicle was left unattended in a prohibited drop-off zone for about 30 minutes, prompting airport security personnel to clamp its tyres in line with airport regulations.
“As the Minister of Aviation, I felt a moral duty to investigate and authenticate the claim made by opposition candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, a few days ago that the tyres of his car were ‘unjustly’ clamped at the airport, suggesting a ‘persecution agenda’ against him by the Federal Government,” Keyamo said.
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He noted that the inquiry was facilitated by the airport’s round-the-clock CCTV surveillance system, adding that the footage contradicted Obi’s account of the incident.
Providing a timeline of events, the minister said Obi arrived at the domestic terminal of the Abuja airport at about 8:28 p.m. on July 4, 2026, accompanied by two other occupants and driven by a police officer.
According to him, after dropping off Obi, the police driver parked the vehicle in the airport’s designated drop-off area and left it unattended while entering the terminal, contrary to airport regulations requiring drivers to remain behind the wheel in the zone.
Keyamo said the driver briefly returned to the vehicle to retrieve an item before leaving it unattended again, after which airport security officials clamped the tyres.
He stressed that no one was inside the vehicle when it was immobilised and that airport officials were unaware the vehicle belonged to Obi.
“When the Policeman returned again and discovered the tyres were clamped, he was directed to an office and upon getting there, he called Mr. Peter Obi on his phone and gave the phone to the manager. Mr. Peter Obi then introduced himself and spoke with the manager, peddled his ‘influence’ and requested for the release of the vehicle. His vehicle was then released without him paying the necessary fine,” the minister alleged.
Keyamo said leaving a vehicle unattended in the restricted zone constituted “a security risk at an airport by global best practices.”
He accused the former Anambra State governor of attempting to gain political sympathy by misrepresenting the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“What has emerged from this is a clear case of an opposition candidate trying to whip up unnecessary sentiments for a wrong he committed with his driver,” he said.
The minister maintained that the matter had not been publicised by airport authorities until Obi spoke about it publicly, adding that the former presidential candidate had presented “a false narrative.”
Consequently, Keyamo demanded that Obi “tenders an unreserved, public apology to those hardworking, ordinary Nigerian workers at the airport, just doing their jobs dutifully and whom he sought to blackmail as his ‘persecutors’.”
He also directed Obi to “voluntarily go back to the airport and pay the appropriate fine of N25,000 for wrongful parking at the airport for which he used ‘influence peddling’ to bully his way out on that day.”
Keyamo warned that if Obi failed to comply with the demands within one week, he would direct the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to “take the next steps against him.”
