Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has asked Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to publicly apologise to airport officials and pay a N25,000 parking fine within seven days over an incident at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
In a statement released on Friday, Keyamo said an internal probe, backed by CCTV footage, showed that Obi’s claims of political victimisation were not supported by the findings.
According to the minister, Obi arrived at the airport’s domestic terminal on July 4 at about 8:28 p.m., after which his police driver allegedly parked in a designated drop-off zone and left the vehicle unattended while entering the terminal, contrary to airport regulations.
He said the driver briefly returned before abandoning the vehicle again, leading airport security personnel to clamp its tyres. Keyamo added that officials did not know the vehicle belonged to Obi when the action was taken.
The minister also alleged that the driver later contacted Obi, who spoke with the airport manager and requested the vehicle’s release. The vehicle was eventually released without payment of the prescribed N25,000 fine.
Keyamo argued that leaving a vehicle unattended in a restricted airport area for about 30 minutes created a security risk and breached aviation safety procedures.
He accused Obi of using the incident to attract public sympathy after the matter had already been resolved and insisted that airport workers were only carrying out their responsibilities.
The minister called on Obi to issue an unreserved public apology to the affected airport officials and pay the outstanding fine within one week, warning that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria would be directed to take further action if he failed to comply.
