Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has come under renewed scrutiny over his past comments on electoral violence after accusing some politicians of encouraging Nigerians to risk their lives during elections while keeping their own children safely abroad.
Keyamo, in a statement posted on his X account on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, accused unnamed politicians of encouraging citizens and thugs to take up weapons and kill one another under the pretext of protecting their votes.
The minister’s comments have revived memories of his strong defence in 2019 of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s controversial warning that ballot box snatchers and those who led thugs to disrupt elections could pay for their actions with their lives.
However, while the contrast between the two statements has prompted questions about his position, Keyamo has expressly maintained that he still supports Buhari’s 2019 warning, making an outright U-turn difficult to establish.
In his latest statement, Keyamo wrote: “After safely ferrying their children abroad, some unscrupulous politicians are encouraging hapless citizens and thugs to take up weapons to kill one another under the pretext of ‘protecting their votes’. That’s fine.”
He went on to reaffirm his support for Buhari’s pre-2019 warning, stating: “Let me reiterate what late President Buhari said pre-2019 election (which I supported and I still support): when you resort to self-help and you take up dangerous weapons in the guise of ‘protecting your votes’ and you attack anybody, it is lawful and legitimate for law enforcement agents to ‘neutralise’ you or simple ‘put you down’ in the course of their duty.”
He added: “And the children of the politicians will be watching your foolishness from their safe haven somewhere in the world.”
Keyamo concluded the statement with a warning to those contemplating violence, saying: “Having been forewarned, you can then go ahead and exercise your options. CHIKENA!!”
But his latest comments have brought renewed attention to his defence of Buhari’s position in February 2019, when he was the spokesperson for the APC presidential campaign.
Speaking during a television interview with Seun Okinbaloye, Keyamo dismissed criticism of the former President’s warning, insisting that there was no need to reinterpret or soften the statement.
“Well, I think I’ve listened to so many uninformed comments since yesterday, and comments that are laced with heavy politics. Well, let me tell you straight away that there is no spin to put to the statement of the President. There is no need to repackage it. What the President said is 100% correct, 100% defensible, and I will urge him to repeat it over and over again,” he said.
Explaining Buhari’s position, Keyamo said the former President was referring to people who led groups of thugs to polling stations to snatch ballot boxes.
“Let me make it very clear that the President said that whoever leads a band of thugs to go and snatch ballot boxes will pay dearly for it with his life. That is a correct statement of the law, because if you look at the definition of thugs—people speak without looking at definitions. A thug is a murderer. A thug is a robber. A thug is a vicious person,” he stated.
The senior lawyer argued that security operatives could lawfully shoot people caught committing violent acts that endangered lives, describing such action as justified under the law.
“The law is that when you are found at the scene of a crime committing violence that will put the lives of people in danger, you can be shot dead on the spot. Every lawyer knows that one of the defenses to criminal liability is what they call justification and excuse. And that is what they call—that is justification of excuse in this particular situation,” he said.
Dismissing arguments that the Electoral Act prescribed fines and prison terms for ballot box snatching, Keyamo maintained that prosecutors could charge offenders under other laws, depending on the circumstances.
“People have cited the Electoral Act, and I say those people are ignorant. That the Electoral Act says that those who snatch ballot boxes should be given some fine and three years imprisonment and all kinds of things. Well, I will tell you that under the law, if a person commits an offense, the prosecutor has an option to charge him under different laws,” he said.
He argued that ballot box snatching involving force or threats of violence could amount to armed robbery under the Robbery and Firearms Act, which he said attracted the death penalty.
“If those who snatch ballot boxes are robbers by definition of the law—because if you take anything by force, you are a robber. That’s the definition of armed robbery under the Robbery and Firearms Act. So, if you come to a polling station—take note, you don’t even have to be armed, though in most cases they are armed. The Robbery and Firearms Act says that if you just threaten violence or use violence, you don’t have to be armed.
“For instance, if you use a heavy blow to threaten somebody or to actually hit somebody to snatch the person’s bag, that is armed robbery, even though you are not carrying a weapon. It’s armed robbery under the Robbery and Firearms Act. And what is the punishment? The punishment is death sentence under that Act,” he added.
Keyamo further argued that people who attempted to seize political power through ballot box snatching could be prosecuted for treason or treasonable felony.
“Also, if you try to intimidate and overawe the state, to take power by force other than constitutional means, that can be treason or treasonable felony. And I can charge the person under treason or treasonable felony, because you are trying to change a government by force by snatching a ballot box and changing a government other than constitutional means. You can be charged for treasonable felony or treason. And the punishment for treason is death,” he said.
Reiterating his support for Buhari, Keyamo insisted that Nigeria needed to adopt a tougher approach to electoral malpractice.
“So, for Christ’s sake, I make no other coloration to what the President said. I make no other excuse. The President stated the correct position of the law, and I will tell the President to repeat it over and over again. We have had a problem of election rigging in our country since elections started in Nigeria, and it is high time we took a definite, harsh position on it, supported by law. And whoever does not like it, that means that is the person—that is the rigger and the person that wants to snatch ballot boxes,” he declared.
He also compared those who objected to Buhari’s remarks to people who felt personally targeted by a general accusation.
“It’s just like somebody who comes to a premises and says that all prostitutes in this premises stink. And if two women come out and say, ‘What do you mean?’ and the women begin to show their anger and frustration, that will tell you that you have just identified the prostitutes in that premises,” he said.
Keyamo subsequently accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of reacting to Buhari’s comments because, in his view, the party was associated with ballot box snatching.
“The President did not say APC or PDP members; anybody who snatches ballot boxes. Since yesterday, PDP has been crying foul, and so it is clear to Nigerians who are those who snatch ballot boxes. And that is what the PDP has been doing since yesterday. So, I want to tell Nigerians there’s nothing wrong with that statement,” he said.
He ended his defence with an emphatic warning to anyone contemplating ballot box snatching.
“Whoever wants to snatch ballot boxes, be prepared to pay for it with your life. If you are shot dead, that is what they call justification and excuse. And if you are charged to court, you also die. Any way you do, whether you die on the spot or you are charged to court under robbery or treason, you will still die. Either way, you will die. Don’t snatch ballot boxes if you don’t want to die,” Keyamo declared.
Following his remarks, the programme’s presenter, Seun Okinbaloye, turned to Senator Dino Melaye for his reaction, saying: “Senator Melaye, how does that sound to you? Well, that’s a senior lawyer there; you’re a lawmaker. (laughs) So, in that sense, when a lawyer and a lawmaker meet, is that justifiable to you?”
The renewed attention to Keyamo’s 2019 comments comes amid heightened political exchanges over threats of violence and the protection of votes ahead of the 2027 general elections.
