The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has sparked widespread reactions after warning that security operatives could lawfully kill anyone who takes up arms in the name of protecting votes during the 2027 general elections.
Keyamo's warning has drawn criticism from Nigerians on social media, with several users accusing him of attempting to intimidate voters while failing to direct similar warnings at politicians and their supporters who might engage in electoral manipulation.
The minister issued the warning in a statement on his X handle on Tuesday, in which he revisited former President Muhammadu Buhari's controversial threat against ballot-box snatchers ahead of the 2019 general elections.
He accused some politicians of encouraging young Nigerians and political thugs to engage in violence while keeping their own children safely abroad.
“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’,” Keyamo wrote.
He maintained that individuals who resort to violence under the guise of protecting electoral choices could be lawfully neutralised by security agencies.
“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 simply ‘put you down’ in the course of their duty,” he stated.
Keyamo said he supported Buhari's position in 2019 and had not changed his stance.
The comments come as political parties and aspirants intensify preparations for the 2027 elections, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fixing January 16, 2027, for the presidential and National Assembly elections and February 6 for governorship and State Houses of Assembly polls.
Buhari had, in February 2019, warned that anyone who attempted to snatch ballot boxes or disrupt the electoral process could face deadly consequences.
Speaking at an emergency meeting of the All Progressives Congress caucus, the former president said security agencies had been instructed to deal ruthlessly with electoral offenders, warning that ballot-box snatching could be the perpetrators' “last unlawful action”.
The statement generated considerable controversy, with opposition politicians and legal practitioners questioning whether the president could authorise security agencies to use lethal force against electoral offenders.
Keyamo, who was then the spokesman of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, vigorously defended the former president's position.
In a February 20, 2019 report by the News Agency, Keyamo argued that ballot-box snatching could be prosecuted as armed robbery, treason or treasonable felony, offences he said could attract the death penalty.
He had insisted that the president's statement was legally defensible, arguing that security operatives could shoot individuals whose actions endangered human lives.
The resurfacing of his earlier position has now become part of the controversy surrounding his latest intervention, with critics questioning whether the minister is more concerned about voters resisting electoral manipulation than those who might perpetrate it.
One of those who reacted, S.A.L.A.K.O (@UnkleAyo), accused Keyamo of threatening Nigerians who simply want their votes protected.
“See as spit full your mouth. So you can threaten citizens with law enforcement killings because they're swearing to protect their votes? Don't cry here. Please tell your people to steal ballot box in Kano,” he wrote.
Another user, Phelix (@p_phlex), questioned the minister's position, recalling the APC's confrontational rhetoric against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the 2015 elections.
He urged Keyamo to caution politicians against rigging rather than threatening citizens determined to defend their votes.
Chukwukadibia (@HopeChimeremeze) described the minister's statement as gaslighting, insisting that Nigerians would turn out to vote and demand accountability for the results.
Similarly, Iwuchukwu Igweamaka (@men2or) accused Keyamo of double standards, alleging that he had remained silent when political actors made controversial statements about electoral violence and when thugs allegedly prevented some residents, particularly Igbo voters, from voting in Lagos during the 2023 elections.
The user argued that the demand to protect votes did not necessarily mean resorting to violence, explaining that citizens intended to use their mobile phones to document irregularities.
“What we are carrying is our ‘phones’ to film the rigging. What we are saying is: Don't rig. Write the real result. Upload the real result. If you rig, you cannot hide,” he wrote.
Don Zaga (@CollinsZagaa) also accused the minister of directing his threats at citizens rather than those who might manipulate election results.
Emmanuel Idakwo, popularly known as Young Babi (@youngbabi4u), described the 2027 elections as a defining moment for Nigeria's younger generation, insisting that the people's votes must count.
However, some users backed Keyamo's position.
A user identified as naijaPatriot (@jollynony) argued that the minister's warning should apply equally to ballot-box snatchers and those involved in electoral malpractice.
The user questioned why Keyamo's statement appeared to focus on voters determined to protect their votes rather than politicians who might attempt to rig the elections.
The controversy has again brought attention to the distinction between lawful efforts to safeguard electoral integrity and violent self-help, particularly as political tension builds ahead of the 2027 polls.
INEC has repeatedly urged political parties and stakeholders to respect the electoral process and avoid intimidation, violence and other practices capable of undermining credible elections.
The commission's chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has also called on political actors to promote peaceful participation as preparations for the 2027 general elections gather momentum.
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