By James Adamu
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has described the recent criticism of him by former Ekiti Senator, Babafemi Ojudu, as a continuation of the latter’s hatred for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a statement issued on Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Research, Gabriel Emameh, the Minister said Senator Ojudu’s article, titled “Festus, Let Us Preserve the Country,” grossly misrepresented his earlier comments on the ruling by an Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, which nullified the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and, by implication, invalidated the party’s presidential primary that produced Atiku Abubakar as flag-bearer.
The statement said the Minister was reacting to a pattern of incendiary statements and open threats by some opposition figures following the judgment, and that as a senior member of the Bar and a member of the Inner Bar, he was only discharging a professional duty by clarifying the letter and spirit of the law and defending the sanctity of the courtroom.
Recalling the Minister’s remarks, the statement quoted him as saying: “On February 13, 2020, when the Supreme Court nullified the victory of the APC governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, David Lyon, a day to his swearing-in, the APC took it with equanimity on the chin.
When the Supreme Court in 2019 stripped all the APC victorious candidates from top to bottom of their victories at the polls in Zamfara State and replaced them with the PDP candidates that all lost at the polls, this is what Atiku Abubakar said at the time: ‘Justice has prevailed in Zamfara.’
That judgment was against the ruling party. We took it on our chins. You cannot abuse judges and blackmail the judiciary when it doesn’t go your way. Heavens will not fall if a certain Atiku Abubakar is not on the ballot in 2027.”
The statement explained that the Minister’s point was cogent and legally precise: the ADC as a party would remain on the ballot, but Atiku might not be its candidate, because the process that produced his nomination was conducted by a leadership the courts had refused to recognise. It said there was nothing anti-democratic in stating that possibility, as it was simply the logical consequence of the judgment.
The statement described Senator Ojudu’s outrage as manufactured, saying the Minister never advocated a call to arms or the suppression of the right of the opposition to ventilate their grievances.
It recalled that the Minister had a pedigree of championing human rights and defending democracy under military dictatorship, when it was suicidal to do so, and that he was arrested, detained and falsely charged to court several times on account of his beliefs, winning all the cases.
“But for the avoidance of doubt, let Senator Ojudu be told that Mr. Keyamo has not changed. He remains the same man who cut his teeth in the trenches of human rights advocacy, defending the underdog and insisting that the rules of justice apply to everyone, no matter who is involved,” the statement said.
It added that the Minister’s democratic principles align with the political philosophy of President Tinubu, which eschews violence in whatever form and embraces only the contestation of ideas.
Responding to Senator Ojudu’s claim of growing intolerance under the ruling party, the statement said the assertion was ironic, as the former senator’s own case exemplified President Tinubu’s culture of tolerance. It said Senator Ojudu had remained an intemperate critic of the President, weaponising social media daily to denigrate him, yet had not been harassed.
The statement recalled that in 2022, while serving as Political Adviser to then Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Senator Ojudu granted an interview in which he said he would not support or campaign for President Tinubu in 2023 and would rather retire to his cassava farm, besides calling the President unprintable names.
It added that despite Senator Ojudu’s rabid anti-APC posts on social media, he has not been harassed, retains a political appointment in the APC-controlled Ekiti State government, drawing full financial benefits, and that his biological daughter is an appointee of President Tinubu without being attacked within the party.
The statement also noted that Senator Ojudu recently said he had not decided who to vote for in the 2027 presidential polls, despite calling the APC “our party” and being a member of the Ekiti APC Presidential Campaign Council, adding that he has not been witch-hunted.
On President Tinubu’s democratic legacy, the statement said the political space has remained remarkably open since the President assumed office, with opposition coalitions free to organise, merge and campaign without state hindrance, and that unlike the dark chapters of the past, the nation has not recorded any state-sponsored political assassinations, midnight arrests of political opponents or attempts to muzzle dissent.
On the Wuse property raised by Senator Ojudu, the statement said Mr. Keyamo bought the property from Independent Communications, owners of TheNews and PM News, with Bayo Onanuga as co-owner at the time, nearly 20 years ago, adding that the Minister has been a massive investor in real estate for nearly 30 years.
The statement concluded by wishing Senator Ojudu good speed as he continues to exercise his freedom of expression, unhindered, under the government of President Tinubu.
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