The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Keyamo

  • Keyamo Criticises Atiku Over Reference to Tinubu as ‘Bola’

    Keyamo Criticises Atiku Over Reference to Tinubu as ‘Bola’

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his repeated reference to President Bola Tinubu by his first name during a press conference in Abuja.

    Keyamo, in a post on his X account on Friday, described Atiku’s reference to the President as “very disrespectful and discourteous”, arguing that the office of the President should be treated with dignity despite political disagreements.

    “The continuous reference to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by His Excellency, ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in his Press Conference earlier today as ‘Bola’ is very disrespectful and discourteous,” Keyamo said.

    He added that political differences should not affect the respect accorded to the office of the President.

    “He should know better that no matter your differences with Mr President, for the sake of the country, that office should be accorded all the dignity it deserves,” the minister said.

    Keyamo also took issue with the tone of Atiku’s remarks, alleging that they reflected personal grievances.

    “The tone reeks of pain and bitterness in his heart,” he said.

    The minister further referred to Atiku’s recent comments about the ages of the two politicians, arguing that it was inconsistent for the former vice-president to describe Tinubu as older than himself while addressing him by his first name.

    “After all, he made the outlandish claim the other day that Mr President is older than himself. It is therefore a contradiction that he would also refer to an ‘elder’ by his first name,” Keyamo said.

    Atiku had, during the Friday press conference, called on Tinubu to take measures to reduce petrol prices and ease the pressure of rising living costs.

    The former vice-president urged the President to consider his proposed government intervention, saying Tinubu could rename the idea and take credit for it if that would result in lower petrol prices for Nigerians.

    “Tinubu should not be ashamed to do what is necessary to lower the price of petrol simply because Atiku Abubakar proposed a government intervention.

    “He should just take the idea, rename it if he wishes, and even take the credit. What matters to me is that Nigerians pay less,” Atiku said.

    He also argued that a policy proposal should not be rejected simply because it came from a political opponent and called for measures that would provide more lasting relief to households.

    Atiku’s remarks came amid continuing concerns over petrol prices and the wider impact of energy and transportation costs on the cost of living.

  • Keyamo Condemns Peter Obi’s Benue Blockade, Urges Media to End Partisan Reporting

    Keyamo Condemns Peter Obi’s Benue Blockade, Urges Media to End Partisan Reporting

    Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo urges media to apply consistent standards when reporting political confrontations involving ruling and opposition parties.

    Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has called on the media to stop partisan reporting and apply consistent standards when covering political confrontations involving candidates and supporters of different political parties.

    Keyamo made the call while condemning the obstruction of the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, who was prevented by protesters from proceeding to Yelwata in Benue State on Tuesday.

    He said the incident should be condemned regardless of whether the protesters were motivated by internal disagreements within the NDC, as claimed by the Benue State Government, or were sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) or another rival party.

    “Whether the protest was as a result of internal squabbles within the NDC (as posited by the Benue State Government) or sponsored by the APC or any other rival party, this should not be part of our democracy,” Keyamo said.

    The minister also rejected arguments that Obi’s planned visit to Yelwata, where killings occurred in 2025, could have been politically motivated, saying that such concerns could not justify preventing him from moving freely.

    “That is still not acceptable; everyone should be allowed to move about freely and play their politics without such crude interference,” he said.

    However, Keyamo said the incident had highlighted what he described as a double standard in the way sections of the media report confrontations involving politicians from different parties.

    “However, there is no better time to draw attention of Nigerians and the world to the spin that the partisan section of the media usually put to such incidents,” he said.

    According to him, confrontations involving APC candidates are sometimes portrayed as evidence of public rejection, while similar incidents involving opposition candidates are described as attacks by sponsored thugs.

    “Many a time when an angry crowd confronts or molests an APC candidate at any level, the partisan Press shamelessly dubs or spins it as ‘rejection’ by ‘Nigerians’. When it concerns the opposition, then it is ‘attack’ by ‘sponsored thugs’ or ‘hoodlums’,” Keyamo said.

    “Just check most headlines today.”

    Keyamo further criticised what he described as the failure of some media organisations to challenge statements by opposition politicians that APC candidates could face violence when campaigning in certain parts of the country.

    “In fact, many opposition leaders openly boasts that the APC candidates cannot go to some parts of this country and shout ‘APC!’ without being ‘stoned’, ‘beaten’ or molested, yet the partisan Press do not call out such leaders and even help to accentuate such statements,” he said.

    He urged the media to abandon partisan approaches and apply the same standards to all political parties and candidates.

    “What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. The Press must extricate itself from such partisanship and be fair to all,” Keyamo said.

    The minister also urged Nigerians to channel their opposition to political candidates through the electoral process rather than violence during campaigns.

    “Whoever is angry at any candidate of any political party should display the anger with the ballot paper on voting day by a simple thumbprint, not by violent acts during campaigns,” he said. Arise News