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.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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