Our attention was drawn this morning to a widely circulated piece entitled “Festus, Let Us Preserve the Country,” written by Senator Femi Ojudu, wherein he grossly misrepresented an earlier statement by the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, in what seems a continuation of his self-declared war against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, even whilst still claiming to be a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gabriel Emameh, Special Adviser on Media/Research to the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development said on Friday.
In a press statement issued on Friday, November 13, 2026, Emameh said the fact is that the Honourable Minister had only reacted to a pattern of incendiary statements and open threats made by some opposition figures following the ruling by an Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, nullifying the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and, by implication, invalidating the party’s presidential primary that produced Atiku Abubakar as flag-bearer, as well as others sanctioned by David Mark as National Chairman.
As a senior member of the Bar and indeed a member of the Inner Bar, Mr. Keyamo was only discharging a professional duty by clarifying the letter and spirit of the law and defending the sanctity of the courtroom, Emameh stated. Whilst cautioning against such threats, he affirmed that court pronouncements are sacrosanct, however unpleasant some might find them; that THE HEAVENS WILL NOT FALL.
Quoting the Minister, Emameh said: “On February 13, 2020, when the Supreme Court nullified the victory of the APC governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, David Lyon, a day to his swearing-in (when he was in fact inspecting the stadium to be used), the APC took it with equanimity on the chin. When the Supreme Court in 2019 stripped all the APC victorious candidates from top to bottom (Governor to House of Assembly) of their victories at the polls in Zamfara State and replaced them with the PDP candidates that all lost at the polls, this is what Atiku Abubakar said at the time (JUSTICE HAS PREVAILED IN ZAMFARA). That judgment was against the ruling party. We took it on our chins. You cannot abuse judges and blackmail the judiciary when it doesn’t go your way. Heavens WILL NOT FALL IF A CERTAIN ATIKU ABUBAKAR IS NOT ON THE BALLOT IN 2027.”
According to Emameh, his point was cogent and legally precise: the ADC as a party would remain on the ballot, but Atiku might not be its candidate, because the process that produced his nomination was conducted by a leadership the courts had refused to recognise. There is nothing anti-democratic in stating that possibility. It is simply the logical consequence of the judgment.
“Strip away the manufactured outrage by the likes of Ojudu, and Keyamo’s perspective rests on a simple truth: the heavens do not fall simply because the law takes its course,” Emameh said.
He noted that at no point did the Minister advocate a call to arms or the suppression of the right of the opposition to ventilate their grievances. It is, therefore, curious why Ojudu then chose to misrepresent the facts.
Emameh added, “It is comforting that Ojudu recalled that the Minister has a pedigree of championing human rights and defending democracy even under military dictatorship when it was very suicidal. He was arrested, detained and falsely charged to court several times on account of his beliefs. He won all these cases. But for the avoidance of doubt, let Senator Ojudu be told that Mr. Keyamo has not changed. He remains the same man who cut his teeth in the trenches of human rights advocacy, defending the underdog and insisting that the rules of justice apply to everyone, no matter who is involved.”
He said good enough, Keyamo’s democratic principles also align with the political philosophy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which eschews violence in whatever form, only the contestation of ideas.
“When Ojudu, therefore, writes or suggests that there is ‘growing intolerance’ by the ruling party (of which he claims to be a ‘member’) under President Tinubu, one is actually amused at the great irony,” Emameh said.
“If nothing at all, Ojudu’s own case exemplifies President Tinubu’s culture of tolerance which some of us emulate. It is public knowledge that the former Ekiti Senator remains an intemperate critic of Mr. President and daily weaponises the social media to denigrate Mr. President,” he added.
Emameh stated that Ojudu’s campaign of calumny against the President didn’t start today. Way back in 2022, whilst serving as Political Adviser to then Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, he granted an interview where he stated that in the event President Tinubu emerged APC presidential candidate, he would not support or campaign for him in 2023. Instead, he said he would retire to his cassava farm, aside from calling President Tinubu, his supposed political benefactor in the past, unprintable names.
“All of these are in the public domain. As they say, the internet does not forget. But to the glory of God Almighty and the support of right-thinking Nigerians, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu won in 2023. Yet, today, despite Ojudu’s rabid anti-APC posts in the social media, we are not aware that anyone harasses him,” Emameh said.
He further disclosed that Ojudu continues to retain a political appointment in the APC-controlled government in Ekiti, drawing full financial benefits.
“To make matters worse, Ojudu’s own biological daughter is an appointee of President Tinubu. Has anyone attacked her within APC for her father’s act of disloyalty and treachery?” he queried.
Emameh also noted that recently, Ojudu issued a statement where he said “I have not decided who to vote for in the coming presidential polls of 2027”, despite that he continues to call APC “our party” and despite being a member of the Ekiti APC Presidential Campaign Council.
“Has anyone attacked Ojudu or witch-hunted him since? Of course, heaven will truly not fall in Ekiti because of that,” he said.
On President Tinubu’s democratic legacy, Emameh said, “Since Asiwaju assumed office, the political space has remained remarkably open. Opposition coalitions have freely organised, merged, and campaigned without State hindrance. Unlike the dark chapters of our past, even the worst critic will today admit that under President Tinubu, the nation has not recorded any State-sponsored political assassinations or midnight arrests of political opponents or even any attempt to muzzle dissent.”
He concluded on the property issue raised by Ojudu, stating, “Since Ojudu didn’t consider it inappropriate or extraneous to bring in the issue of a private transaction which involved the purchase of a property in Wuse in 2009 (it was actually in 2008), one finds it pretentious of him not to go the whole hog by making full disclosure: Mr. Keyamo indeed bought the said property from Independent Communications (owners of TheNews and PM News, with our own Bayo Onanuga as co-owner at the time) nearly 20 years ago, since unknown to many Mr. Keyamo has been a massive investor in real estate for nearly 30 years now.”
“We wish Senator Babafemi Ojudu good speed as he continues to exercise his freedom of expression, unhindered, under the Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Emameh added.
