Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has described a viral video showing a man destroying campaign posters bearing the images of President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima as a staged political propaganda exercise.
The video circulating online shows a man using what appears to be a machete to tear down several posters displayed on a wall. Graphics accompanying the footage also carried the message, “Tinubu Must Go.”
Reacting to the video in a post on X on Friday, Keyamo alleged that the individual involved was sponsored by opposition elements to create the impression that the President had lost public support ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to the minister, the fact that the incident was deliberately recorded and subsequently circulated online indicated that it was intended to generate a particular political narrative.
“Here is a sponsored thug of the opposition brandishing a weapon, destroying the posters of the ruling party somewhere in the country,” Keyamo said.
He described the incident as a propaganda stunt, arguing that someone had deliberately positioned a camera to capture the act and distribute the footage.
Keyamo further claimed that similar incidents had occurred in other parts of the country and were being presented as evidence that Nigerians had rejected Tinubu.
He said the interpretation attached to such videos was that the President had lost the support of angry Nigerians.
“The interpretation and spin given to these incidents is that the President has been ‘rejected’ by ‘angry’ Nigerians,” the minister said.
The minister’s comments come as political activities and public debates intensify ahead of the 2027 elections, with supporters of different political parties increasingly using social media to promote their positions and campaign narratives.
Keyamo also drew attention to another incident in Lagos State which he said occurred the previous week.
According to him, two or three individuals were seen using Tinubu campaign posters to cover posters belonging to an opposition political party.
While acknowledging that such conduct was unacceptable, Keyamo alleged that some television programmes and blogs had described the individuals involved as supporters or “thugs” of the ruling party and used the incident to raise concerns about intimidation and threats to democracy.
He questioned what he described as differences in the way similar incidents involving campaign posters were reported and interpreted.
However, Keyamo stressed that his criticism should not be taken as an invitation for supporters of the All Progressives Congress to retaliate.
“This is not a call on the teeming APC supporters to retaliate in any form, but this should prick the conscience of all men of goodwill,” he said.
The aviation minister alleged that the opposition was deliberately using isolated incidents to portray the ruling party negatively as the country approaches the 2027 presidential election.
He argued that the strategy was intended to create a perception that the ruling party had become unpopular before the election.
“The script and propaganda tactics of the opposition is clear: make the ruling party look so bad and unelectable as a basis of rejecting their apparent defeat come January, 16, 2027,” Keyamo said.
He also referenced recent bye-elections, claiming that opposition parties had recorded defeats in elections conducted across five regions of the country.
Keyamo said he expected the trend to continue into the 2027 presidential election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027.
The viral poster-destruction video and the competing interpretations surrounding it are likely to remain part of the wider political conversation as parties, candidates and supporters intensify their campaigns ahead of the election.
