Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development and Director of Air Transport Mobilisation for APC Presidential Campaign Council, Olorogun Festus Keyamo (SAN), has warned would-be election thugs against resorting to self-help.
He stated that anyone who takes up arms against other citizens under the pretext of “protecting their votes” could face lawful action by security agents.
The warning, contained in a post on his X account on Tuesday, follows recent inflammatory remarks by leaders of the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections, with some explicitly invoking violence and street confrontation.
Citing former President Muhammadu Buhari’s pre-2019 election position, which he said he supported then and still supports, Keyamo stated: “When you resort to self-help and you take up dangerous weapons in the guise of ‘protecting your votes’ and you attack anybody, it is lawful and legitimate for law enforcement agents to ‘neutralise’ you or simply ‘put you down’ in the course of their duty.”
He alleged that “some unscrupulous politicians,” after safely ferrying their children abroad, are now encouraging hapless citizens and thugs to take up weapons to kill one another under the pretext of protecting their votes.
“And the children of the politicians will be watching your foolishness from their safe haven somewhere in the world. Having been forewarned, you can then go ahead and exercise your options. CHIKENA!”, he added.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria did not name specific individuals, his warning comes amid increasingly combative statements from the opposition in the country.
On Monday, former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, declared on Arise Television that the party would “settle the matter on the streets” rather than in court. “In the Osun election, over 50 people died. We are announcing to Tinubu and the APC that this time around, we will defend ourselves,” Melaye said, using the phrase “all die na die” to emphasise the party’s readiness to confront the ruling APC.
Last month, former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege sparked controversy with his “rig and die” declaration at a campaign flag-off in Delta State.
“It’s rig and die. Anybody who tries to rig the 2027 election will face the consequences,” he warned. Omo-Agege later defended the statement through his spokesperson, insisting it was a warning to election riggers rather than voters, and cited Buhari’s 2019 “shoot-at-sight” directive and President Tinubu’s 2014 “rig and roast” remark as precedents.
Earlier in the year, former presidential candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso, upon joining the ADC, directed his Kwankwasiyya loyalists to “prepare for the worst-case scenario” and be ready for “violence” in defence of their votes, vowing to reclaim structures “through whatever means, including violence and confrontation.”
Peter Obi, the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, had in September said he was “prepared to die” with supporters defending their votes, but later clarified on Arise TV that the remark was “symbolic” and not a call for violence.
This is not the first time Keyamo has warned against self-help. In September 2026, after alleging that thugs loyal to the opposition looted shops and destroyed campaign billboards in his community in Effurun, Delta State, he said he had “warned everyone not to resort to self-help” and petitioned the Inspector General of Police rather than retaliate.
The 2027 presidential election is scheduled for January 16, 2027.
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