Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has declared that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will participate in the 2027 general elections, but warned that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and other candidates produced by the faction led by former Senate President David Mark could be excluded from the ballot.
Keyamo made the position known on Sunday, November 8, in a post on his X account, dismissing claims that the recent Federal High Court judgment affecting the ADC leadership would prevent the entire party from contesting the forthcoming elections.
The minister argued that the legal dispute concerns the legitimacy of the party leadership that conducted the primaries and nominated candidates, not the continued existence of the ADC as a registered political party.
“For the education of the public, those raising false alarm that the court judgment on ADC means the Party will not be on the ballot are spreading MISINFORMATION.
“The ADC WILL BE ON THE BALLOT. It is the David Mark faction of candidates, including ATIKU ABUBAKAR that MAY NOT be on the ballot (depending on the final judgment of the Supreme Court),” Keyamo wrote.
He also questioned why candidates who secured their tickets under the faction he described as the original owners of the ADC should lose their opportunity to contest because of the leadership dispute.
“Therefore, the question we must ask those raising hell is that, are those Nigerians who successfully won their Primaries under the faction of the original owners of the ADC lesser humans or lesser Nigerians than David Mark and Atiku Abubakar?” he added.
Keyamo’s comments followed a November 5 judgment by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which declared the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the ADC unlawful and invalidated decisions taken by the committee.
The judgment arose from a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, who challenged the emergence of the Mark-led leadership and argued that he was constitutionally entitled to assume the party’s leadership following the resignation of former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu.
The court ruled in favour of Gombe and set aside actions taken by the Mark-led leadership, including the process that produced Atiku as the ADC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
The ruling has created uncertainty over the party’s leadership, the validity of its primaries and the status of candidates nominated under the disputed leadership structure.
However, the ADC has rejected the judgment and moved to challenge it through the courts. The party filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal on November 6 and also applied for a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of its appeal.
The party subsequently notified the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the legal steps taken, urging the commission to suspend further action on the dispute while the appeal is pending.
Atiku has also rejected the implications of the ruling, maintaining that nothing will prevent him from contesting the 2027 presidential election. He has vowed to pursue the legal process to challenge the decision.
The minister’s latest intervention follows his earlier remarks on Friday that “heavens will not fall” if Atiku does not appear on the ballot in 2027.
While defending the court’s authority, Keyamo argued that politicians should respect judicial decisions even when the outcomes are unfavourable to their political interests.
He cited previous Supreme Court decisions involving the APC in Zamfara State in 2019 and Bayelsa State in 2020, arguing that political actors who previously supported judicial interventions should not discredit the judiciary when subsequent rulings affect their interests.
The ADC leadership crisis has therefore developed into a significant legal and political contest ahead of the 2027 elections, with the eventual appellate decisions expected to determine the validity of the disputed leadership structure and the nominations made under it.
Although the Federal High Court judgment has invalidated the Mark-led faction’s actions, the ADC’s appeal and application for a stay mean the dispute remains before the judiciary. The final legal position on the party’s leadership and the affected candidacies will depend on the outcome of the ongoing proceedings.
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