“He doesn’t have police attached to him” – Peter Obi’s spokesman challenges Keyamo over CCTV footage

Zekeri Idris, one of Peter Obi’s spokespersons, has challenged Barr. Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, over the release of CCTV footage relating to an airport incident involving the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate.

Idris said the footage released by the minister was from a different incident from the one Obi recently referenced during an interview.

The exchange follows Keyamo’s publication of CCTV footage from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, which he said showed a vehicle linked to Obi violating airport parking regulations. The minister also dismissed Obi’s claim that he had been subjected to intimidation at Nigerian airports.

In a statement on Saturday, Idris said Keyamo incorrectly assumed that Obi enjoys official security protection.

His words: “Mr. Peter Obi does not have any police or civil defence personnel attached to him in Abuja, despite being entitled to VVIP protection by virtue of his status as a leading opposition figure in Nigeria. He certainly does not have a police officer serving as his driver.

“Your reference to a ‘police driver’ appears to have been based on the assumption that he enjoys the level of security protection ordinarily accorded to someone of his standing. He does not.”

Idris said he has accompanied Obi on numerous trips across the country and witnessed repeated instances of what he described as discourteous treatment by some government officials.

The spokesman said the incident contained in Keyamo’s post was not the one Obi narrated publicly.

He said: “The incident you posted is entirely different from the one Mr. Peter Obi narrated in his interview. In that interview, he clearly stated: ‘I was there…’ In the incident contained in your tweet, he was not present.

“If we now have at least two separate incidents in which vehicles associated with Mr. Obi were clamped under questionable circumstances, does this not suggest a pattern of targeting an individual simply because of who he is?

“The entire sequence of events you referenced, from arrival to the eventual clamping of the vehicle, lasted approximately five minutes.

“At most airports around the world, including major international airports, a ten-minute drop-off window is generally considered acceptable. Where, then, did the claim of 30 minutes originate?”

Idris alleged that other vehicles parked in the same area were not subjected to similar enforcement.

“Is it not a fact that several other vehicles were in the vicinity of Mr. Obi’s vehicle without attracting similar attention from airport officials?” he asked.

“Indeed, some of those vehicles had been parked there long before Mr. Obi’s vehicle arrived, yet none was clamped,” he added.

He also cited previous airport incidents involving other prominent Nigerians, including Adams Oshiomhole and Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as KWAM 1, questioning why similar official attention was not given to those cases.

“Where was this same enthusiasm to instigate public outrage and issue official condemnations? Was CCTV footage from those incidents also released, or was the CCTV system only activated when it involved Mr. Peter Obi?” he asked