The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has described the movement of top opposition figures into the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a development that has significantly strengthened the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“What happened earlier today with the movement of the so-called ‘coalition’ into the ADC is the greatest factor that has strengthened the APC ahead of the 2027 elections,” Keyamo said in a statement on Wednesday.
He noted that the politicians who publicly joined the ADC have, by law, let go of their original party memberships. Keyamo explained that being part of two or more parties at once is not allowed under Nigeria’s laws and can even get a politician disqualified during an election.
“By law, you cannot operate from, or belong to, two or multiple political parties,” he said.
“So, it is safe to say that their open declaration for ADC today is a clear abandonment of their previous parties. In fact, belonging to two political parties is a ground for disqualification in an election.”
He added that what is happening within the ADC shows that the once-powerful opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is now breaking apart. According to him, the older leaders in the PDP have lost control, and younger members have taken over, pushing the older figures out.
“The majority of the old guard in the PDP — who have apparently lost control of the party — have been pushed out by the younger Turks,” he claimed.
“That is why the gathering today was a conglomerate of ‘former this’ and ‘former that’ of the PDP. No matter how you look at it, this is just Atiku’s faction of PDP in desperate search for the 2027 presidential ticket — nothing more, nothing less.”
Keyamo insisted that this political shift has no real effect on the APC. He explained that the so-called coalition also includes a few APC members who had worked against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the last election or lost their seats to opposition candidates.
“The other addition to the so-called coalition is a sprinkling of APC members who worked against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the last election, and one or two APC leaders who lost their constituencies to opposition parties in 2023,” he said.
“Their movement therefore takes nothing away from the APC. It is actually better for the APC because it is just a case of totally extracting the germ that was eating the cola nut from within.”
He also noted that the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is being used by the coalition without any real plan to support his political ambition.
“The person who the old, cunning guards want to take for a ride in all of this is Peter Obi,” he said. “They want his votes, but don’t want to give him their presidential ticket, because this is Atiku’s show simpliciter.”
According to him, “If you do not give Peter Obi the presidential ticket, you lose his supporters. It is as simple as that. And how can you make someone who won two regions in the last election — South-East and South-South — a running mate to the person who won only one region — North-East?”
Keyamo ended his statement by saying that the opposition has only grown weaker since 2023, while the APC has continued to grow and become stronger.
“When the dust settles, you’ll discover that PDP and Labour Party have lost something, the ADC has only gained something like a caricature, but the APC has lost absolutely nothing,” he said.
“Since the 2023 elections, the APC has become stronger, whilst the opposition parties have been fragmented and have become weaker,” he added.
