Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said Nigerians are now prepared to scrutinise claims by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2027 general election.
Keyamo made the statement on Thursday in a post on X while reacting to the ongoing controversy between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the financial records of his administration as governor.
The minister dismissed suggestions that the repeated public attention on Obi amounted to an obsession with the former Anambra governor, arguing that the scrutiny was necessary to establish the accuracy of his claims.
“I see some suggestions that everyone is ‘obsessed’ about Peter Obi because we are always talking about him. I am sorry, but they miss the point,” Keyamo wrote.
He alleged that Obi made false claims during the 2023 presidential campaign but escaped sufficient scrutiny at the time.
“When someone lies per second, you also have to fact-check him per second. He got away with the lies in 2023, but this time Nigerians are ready to fact-check every claim of the ‘yes-daddy’ man,” the minister said.
Keyamo’s comments came amid the renewed dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the former governor’s financial record.
The state government has claimed that some loans obtained during Obi’s tenure remain outstanding and are still being serviced. It also challenged his claim that N2.13 billion was left in a First Bank account for the Oko and Umuchiana erosion project.
Obi, however, has maintained that he left office without outstanding debts, unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or obligations to contractors for duly executed projects.
Keyamo argued that the level of public attention Obi receives is directly connected to the claims he makes and the need to scrutinise them.
“Therefore, to put it simply, the amount of time we talk about Peter Obi is directly proportional to the amount of lies he tells,” he added.
