BY AHMED AKANBI
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has warned that the leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC), could knock former Vice President Atiku Abubakar off the 2027 presidential ballot.
Keyamo clarified that the party itself will still participate in the election, but candidates produced by the faction led by former Senate President, David Mark may not.
Their fate, he said, will depend on the final decision of the Supreme Court on who legitimately leads the ADC.
The minister made the clarification on Sunday in a post on his X handle, dismissing claims that the recent Federal High Court judgment had barred the ADC from the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the ruling should not be read as a decision against the entire party, but as one with implications for candidates produced under the Mark-led leadership.
“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,” he wrote.
The Federal High Court in Abuja had on Thursday nullified the Mark-led caretaker leadership of the ADC, declaring its emergence invalid.
The court also set aside decisions taken by that leadership, including the process that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate for 2027.
The judgment followed a suit filed by former ADC Deputy National Chairman, North East, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who challenged how Mark and other members of the caretaker committee took control of the party.
The ruling has sparked reactions from political figures and opposition groups, with the ADC rejecting the decision and announcing plans to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
Keyamo also questioned the criticism trailing the judgment, arguing that members of the party’s original leadership structure should not be denied their right to participate in its activities and contest elections.
He challenged critics to consider the interests of candidates who won their primaries under the party’s original leadership structure.
The minister asked whether such candidates should be regarded as less deserving of political participation than Mark, Atiku and other members of the disputed faction.
The ADC leadership crisis has now raised serious questions about the party’s candidate selection process and its preparations for the 2027 general elections.