ADCs that rely on emotion over law, risk not fielding a candidate in 2027 —Keyamo

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has warned that the African Democratic Party (ADC) is at risk of being excluded from fielding any candidates in the upcoming 2027 general elections.

The Minister who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in a post on

He wrote: “The ADC faction led by David Mark actually thinks they can use emotional reasoning and blackmail to cheat their way out of the legal conundrum they themselves have created. Unfortunately for them, the law does not recognize the existence of sentiment. Decisions are based on facts, evidence and legal interpretation, not on sympathy, emotion or political considerations.

“All those arguing for the ‘status quo ante bellum’ are wasting their time and energy chasing the shadows and not the substance. This is because whether INEC recognizes any of the factions is currently irrelevant: what is relevant is that there is a challenge regarding the takeover of the Party pending in court by the elected Deputy National Chairman. As long as the case is still in court, all the actions of either faction MAY end in futility AFTER the deadline for nomination of candidates by INEC. The implication is that the ADC may ultimately have NO CANDIDATE for the election that.

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“Therefore, instead of vilifying INEC, ADC should thank INEC for its timely action, namely withdrawing the recognition of both factions BEFORE the close of the candidate nomination period. ADC has warned the Party of the impending danger and opened an opportunity for them to find a new risk-free platform, or request an expedited trial of the case in court, or politically resolve the leadership issue within the Party quickly.

“Continuing to blame imaginary opponents or INEC is very mischievous: neither the APC nor INEC is encouraging mature and supposedly ‘experienced’ politicians to hijack existing platforms without proper legal advice and without properly sorting out any members of the existing platform leadership.

“They said that they will continue with their congress and Convention despite INEC’s decision and the Court of Appeal’s decision. That doesn’t matter to us.

“NEVER DISTURB YOUR OPPONENT WHEN HE MAKES A MISTAKE.”