The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has accused a section of the Nigerian media of applying double standards in its coverage of political violence and contributing to rising political tension ahead of the 2027 general elections through what he described as biased and unbalanced reporting.
His comments followed reports and video footage showing individuals identified as NDC members or supporters in Lagos openly brandishing cutlasses, guns and other dangerous weapons while wearing the party’s insignia. The development sparked controversy over allegations that the individuals were responding to an attack, with Keyamo questioning the absence of similar media outrage over the footage and calling for those involved in political violence to be held accountable.
Speaking on Friday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Keyamo said the press had been selective in its reactions to political violence, arguing that incidents involving the opposition were sometimes presented differently from those involving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Reacting to the Lagos incident, the minister recalled how the press had extensively criticised APC chieftain Fadahunsi over his own conduct, leading to his invitation by the Department of State Services, DSS, but questioned why similar attention was not given to the individuals seen carrying weapons and wearing NDC vests.
He said, “In Osun State, I remember what Fadahunsi went through. The press virtually choked, intimidated and harassed him, until he was invited by DSS or something. Fair enough! Now, everybody has seen the faces of those carrying cutlasses, guns, and whatever dangerous weapons, brandishing NDC, NDC vests. Where is the outrage this morning by the press, by everybody calling on strangers to arrest those people with weapons? Where is the outrage this morning?”
Keyamo also disputed the claim that the individuals were merely defending themselves, referring to footage of one of the persons arrested during the incident. According to him, the individual described himself as an ordinary person who came around looking for what he called the usual street activity in Lagos.
“Even the person they arrested, I saw footages of when they allowed the press, I think, these television houses to put a microphone on his mouth. The man was on the ground crying. And they said who sent you? He said, nobody sent me. That is the culture of Lagos. Go to anywhere in Lagos where there is a gathering. It is a fact that the Alaye boys must come around and look for money.”
He alleged that the incident was being presented as an attack involving APC members, suggesting that the confrontation could have resulted from a disagreement with local street boys around the venue of the NDC town hall meeting in Ikeja.
“Now, they mistook these people because they want to make a point that these are APC people, blah, blah, blah. Maybe because they did not settle the Alaye boys,” the minister stated.
Keyamo, however, stressed that he did not support such confrontations, questioning whether political supporters should resort to carrying weapons in the name of self-defence.
“It’s a street tradition. I don’t support it, but that’s it,” he said.
The minister further accused some media organisations of giving different interpretations to similar incidents depending on the political party involved.
According to him, while attacks on APC supporters were sometimes presented as reactions by angry Nigerians, attacks on opposition members were immediately described as the activities of political thugs.
He said, “When it is flipped now, and I condemn it, that opposition members are being attacked in some parts of this country, then the rhetoric is not that the opposition has been rejected. That is why the whole thing is blowing up now because certain opposition members have been attacked. And now it is no longer angry Nigerians, it is now thugs. Radio stations, television houses, newspapers are calling them thugs. “
Keyamo also cited the destruction of President Bola Tinubu’s campaign posters in some parts of the country, alleging that cameras were deliberately positioned to capture the incidents, which were subsequently celebrated by sections of the media.
“About a few months ago, people will put some cameras in front of certain places. In fact, they will deliberately position some cameras and tell people to go and tear down the posters of Mr. President in some parts of this country. The press will celebrate it and they will term it as angry Nigerians”
He maintained that the press should not amplify inflammatory statements or portray political violence as a demonstration of public rejection of a particular party.
The minister also recalled an incident in Asaba, where a politician’s convoy was attacked and a person was subsequently killed during a retaliatory action.
He faulted media coverage of the incident, saying the destruction of vehicles received more attention than the loss of human life, while headlines focused on the alleged attack on the New Democratic Congress, NDC.
He added that the deceased was later discovered not to be an APC member, contrary to the impression created in some reports.
” I’ll tell you one very annoying thing that happened two weeks ago in Asaba when the convoy of a certain politician was attacked. In the process, they retaliated and killed somebody who later have been found out not to be an APC member but it had been blown up as if he were an APC member. Now it was found out that he was just a Keker rider or something. Do you know what happened? All the headlines the next day, including television stations who were running the news, never ever played up the fact that a human life had been taken. All the headlines were saying NDC attacked in Asaba. NDC attacked in Asaba,” Keyamo explained.
Describing the coverage as an example of what he called the dirty politics played by sections of the press, Keyamo said the media had a responsibility to report incidents objectively, irrespective of the political affiliations of those involved.
He said, “I want to educate members of the public the kind of dirty politics the press, some member, I repeat, not all, some section of the press play. So, I am calling on the press to be fair, to be just, to be balanced to all, and to lower the temperature. If anybody brings out a rhetoric like that, whether it is opposition saying that Nigerians will stone the APC or the APC talking about the opposition, we must call out and condemn it.”
The minister, however, acknowledged that some APC members had also been involved in promoting violent rhetoric, insisting that neither the ruling party nor the opposition should be shielded from criticism.
“Not all members of the All Progressive Congress are free from blame on this. I agree with you that certain members of the APC and certain jurisdictions have also been found guilty of promoting violent rhetoric. So I admit that,” he said.
On the role of security agencies in preventing electoral violence, Keyamo urged law enforcement personnel to remain impartial and arrest anyone found engaging in violence, regardless of political affiliation.
He alleged that some security personnel were susceptible to financial inducements and could be influenced by politicians from either side of the political divide.
He said, “Security agents must be proactive and must be like the lady justice that is blind. Their role must be to keep the peace. Their role must be to ensure that there is law and order, and not to support the ruling party or the opposition party.”
Keyamo also defended his support for former President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to security agencies during the 2019 general elections that anyone who attempted to snatch ballot boxes with weapons would pay with their lives.
He explained that Buhari’s statement was directed at law enforcement agencies legally empowered to maintain order and not a call for citizens or political supporters to attack one another.
The minister maintained that armed individuals attempting to kill people or destroy property could lawfully be neutralised by security operatives, but insisted that no citizen had the right to attack another citizen.
He said, “It is only the law enforcement agents that should be armed, which is what I said in 2019. I repeat it. I support it. I stand by it.”
Keyamo added that security agencies must discharge their responsibilities without political considerations, stressing that anyone found carrying dangerous weapons or attacking others should be arrested.
