The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has accused opposition elements of orchestrating the destruction of All Progressives Congress, APC, campaign posters as part of an alleged propaganda strategy ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Keyamo made the allegation in a post on his X account on Friday, while reacting to a video showing a man tearing down APC posters while allegedly brandishing a weapon.
The minister described the individual as a “sponsored thug of the opposition” and alleged that the incident was deliberately recorded and circulated to create a particular political narrative.
“It is planned as a propaganda stunt because someone deliberately set a camera to record and circulate it. Similar, planned stunts are happening in some parts of the country,” Keyamo said.
According to him, the videos were being used to create the impression that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had been rejected by angry Nigerians.
“The interpretation and spin given to these incidents is that the President has been ‘rejected’ by ‘angry’ Nigerians. Meanwhile, this is just one voter amongst 93,469,008 registered voters in Nigeria,” he said.
The figure of 93,469,008 was the validated number of registered voters for the 2023 general election, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. INEC has since conducted further voter registration ahead of the 2027 elections.
Keyamo also accused some media organisations, blogs and journalists of failing to condemn the alleged destruction of APC posters while giving what he described as favourable coverage to the incident.
He contrasted the development with an incident in Lagos State the previous week, where he said two or three people were seen using President Tinubu’s posters to cover posters belonging to an opposition party.
While acknowledging that the Lagos incident was also unacceptable, the minister alleged that sections of the media treated the two incidents differently.
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“Some prominent morning programmes on TV and paid blogs went to town to brand the guys ‘thugs of the ruling party’ and amplified the videos to high heavens, shouting ‘intimidation’ and ‘democracy’ in danger,” he said.
Keyamo stressed that his comments should not be interpreted as a call for APC supporters to retaliate.
“This is not a call on the teeming APC supporters to retaliate in any form, but this should prick the conscience of all men of goodwill,” he said.
The minister further alleged that the opposition was attempting to portray the ruling party as unpopular ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“The script and propaganda tactics of the opposition is clear: make the ruling party look so bad and unelectable as a basis of rejecting their apparent defeat come January 16, 2027,” he said.
Keyamo also called on the international community to pay attention to political developments in Nigeria, accusing opposition elements of engaging in what he described as organised propaganda.
“The world should take note of what is happening in Nigeria by a defeated, disorganised, disoriented and confused opposition,” he said.
He further claimed that opposition parties had recently suffered defeats in bye-elections conducted across five regions of the country and said he expected a similar outcome in the 2027 elections.
“Despite these shenanigans, they all lost woefully in bye-elections held in five regions of the country about a fortnight ago. That same defeat awaits them on January 16, 2027,” Keyamo stated.
The minister’s comments come as political parties and their candidates intensify preparations for the 2027 elections, with campaign-related activities and competing narratives increasingly shaping the political discourse.