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By John Ogunsemore
National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi has refuted claims by Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo that the party violated the zoning arrangement respected by other political parties.
In an X post on Thursday, Keyamo had claimed the ADC belongs to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, hence could not zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South like the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have purportedly done.
The minister said, “The ADC is scared to clearly ZONE its Presidential ticket, like the other major parties (PDP and APC) have done, because the party belongs to one man called Atiku Abubakar @atiku.
“It is the EXACT corner that Atiku pushed PDP to in 2023 that ADC now finds itself – the inability to zone its Presidential ticket.
“In a highly sensitive country like Nigeria, any pan-Nigerian Party MUST be clear as to zoning. The APC Governors did so in 2023 and triumphed. The PDP is still reeling from that disastrous decision in 2023.”
Responding, the ADC spokesman said Keyamo’s position on zoning was incorrect.
He recounted how the APC failed to respect zoning in picking its presidential flagbearer in 2014, selection of Senate President in 2015, and fielding of Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in 2023.
He said a party with such history should not be castigating another.
Abdullahi said, “You may be aware (or not) that at the beginning of the controversy over who should be Senate President after the 2015 presidential election, the initial decision by the party leadership was to zone the number three position to the North Central.
“However, when it looked like Dr. Saraki was going to emerge, the ACN bloc, led by Baba Akande and Asiwaju BAT (now President), argued that zoning was a PDP thing and was alien to progressive politics, which they claimed to represent. It was on that basis that they backed Ahmed Lawan from Yobe (North East).”
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He added, “That would not be a baseless argument, considering that the presidential primaries that produced PMB appeared to have been thrown open, irrespective of zoning.
“This was why Rochas Okorocha (4th, 264 votes) was able to contest alongside Buhari, Kwankwaso, @Atiku, and Sam Nda-Isaiah. This pattern was repeated in 2023, when the primary election was contested by Ahmad Lawan (NE), Ahmed Sani (NW), Yahaya Bello (NC), alongside southern candidates.
“And, like 2019, APC simply zoned to the incumbent in 2027, and not to any region.
“Now, talking about zoning as a mechanism for strengthening national unity, you would agree with me (hopefully) that this also includes religious balancing, which has proved to be even more fundamental to our national cohesion than geographical considerations.
“Yet, APC put a knife to this fragile rope of national unity when it settled for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“In doing that, APC showed that they had no time for balancing religious sensibilities as long as, in their calculations, it was a same-faith ticket that would deliver victory.
“And if they change it or keep it in 2027, it would not be because they suddenly suffered a pang of conscience, it would be a matter of political strategy.”
Abdullahi expressed curiosity about Keyamo’s recent preoccupation with the ADC, assuring the minister that the party would form a winning coalition for 2027.
He said, “Now, to ADC, which I noticed you have suddenly become preoccupied with in the last 48 hours or so, even worrying on our behalf about how we could get our presidential ticket wrong. Which is quite curious though, because shouldn’t you actually be happy that we were about to make a mistake?
“I will make this clear: what we are putting together is a winning coalition. Therefore, for us, nothing is settled yet. But I can assure you that when we do decide, it will be based on a clear strategy to win the election. I must also add, however, as a matter of principle, there are lines the ADC will not cross in order to keep the country together. After all, we have seen where APC’s win-at-all-cost approach has led our country.”
