The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has urged the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi to publicly apologise over allegations that his vehicle was unfairly clamped at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
While clarifying the situation, the minister insisted that CCTV footage belied Obi’s charges of political persecution, writes Weekend Trust.
Recall that Peter Obi in an interview on With Chude, presented by media personality Chude Jideonwo claimed he is being attacked unfairly just like other opposition members citing an incident at the airport when his vehicle tyres were allegedly wrongly clamped.
“They are personally attacking everybody who is in opposition,” he claimed. They’re coming after me personally. All. “Not at all, not to give me even what I should have been entitled to,” he claimed.
‘I had a case at the airport, folks that work at the airport they came and locked my car recently. And I answered, ‘It’s myself. The person in charge said he doesn’t care.
“But I said, ‘Look at other people’s cars. And you could see people talking to each other like, “Who is this one?”
But he said he initiated an internal probe when Obi complained that officials at the airport had targeted him by clamping the tyres of his vehicle as part of a “persecution agenda” by the federal government in a statement posted on his X account yesterday with the CCTV footage attached.
CCTV footage from the airport showed Obi arriving in the domestic terminal in a vehicle driven by a police officer, at about 8:28 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, 2026, the minister said.
He said the police driver stopped the vehicle in the appropriate drop off zone after dropping Obi and two other occupants, left it unattended and went into the airport building.
Keyamo said while vehicles are allowed to stop short in the area, drivers must remain behind the steering wheel while waiting.
He stated the airport’s guideline is that a driver must stay behind the wheels of the car to be tolerated for some time within the drop-off zone apart from it being a drop-off zone.
The officer momentarily went to the truck to retrieve an item, leaving it unattended again, leading to airport security clamping the wheels, he said.
But the minister dismissed Obi’s assertion that officials deliberately targeted him, stressing that no one was in the vehicle when it was immobilised and the airport workers did not know that it belonged to the former Anambra State governor.
“The policeman came back and saw the tyres were clamped and was taken to the office and he called Mr Peter Obi and gave the phone to the manager. Mr. Peter Obi then identified himself, spoke to the management and asked that the vehicle be released. His car was later freed without the payment of the required fine.”
He said the vehicle was left unattended in the restricted drop-off zone for “some 30 minutes” and branded it a major airport security concern that flouted worldwide best standards.
The minister said Obi was trying to take political advantage of the issue by claiming he was a victim of government persecution.
“What has come out of this is a clear case of an opposition candidate trying to incite unnecessary sentiments for a wrong he committed with his driver,” he added.
He also dismissed as untrue the accusation presented by Obi that other vehicles allegedly broke the parking laws on the same day.
Keyamo then requested that Obi tender an unreserved public apology to the airport officials who he said were just doing their lawful duty.
He further urged the presidential contender to voluntarily return to the airport and pay the N25, 000 penalty mandated for wrongful parking, stating that Obi exploited his clout to get the vehicle released without paying the penalty.
“If these demands are not met within a week, I will be giving the necessary directives to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to take the next steps against him,” the minister added.
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