The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has welcomed the Federal High Court judgment removing David Mark as leader of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), insisting that the party was taken over illegally and that the ruling party is not to blame.
Reacting to the judgment on Thursday, Keyamo who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the case proves that the courts ultimately decide matters on facts and evidence.
“Justice may be slow, but it is always SURE!” he said.
He accused Mark and his allies of seizing a party built by Nigerians without following due process.
“You cannot invade a political Party owned and built by Nigerians, hijack it with the connivance of a so-called National Chairman without a PRIOR meeting and approval of a mini–National Convention or the National Executive Committee and hope to bluff your way out of such a brazen act by blaming and blackmailing the ruling Party for a misfortune deliberately stocked by you,” he said.
Keyamo rejected the ADC’s claim that the judgment was an attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to cripple the opposition. “Sorry, but the law is decided on facts and evidence, rather than sentiments and outrage by a group of people,” he said.
He added that democracy is not endangered only when Atiku Abubakar is not on the ballot: “It is not only when a certain ATIKU ABUBAKAR contests the Presidency that democracy is not in danger.”
The minister maintained that the ADC itself remains intact and belongs to its original members. “The ADC as a Party is well and alive and populated by people and original leaders who are NO LESS Nigerians than David Mark and his illegal band of marauders,” he said.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday nullified the Mark-led caretaker committee of the ADC, ruling in favour of Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former national deputy chairman (north-east) of the party.
The court also voided all decisions taken by the committee, including the nomination of Atiku Abubakar as the party’s 2027 presidential candidate. The suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, challenged how Mark and others took charge after the resignation of former national chairman Ralph Nwosu.
The ADC has rejected the judgment, accusing the APC of trying to weaken the opposition. The party argued that it conflicts with a 2 July 2026 ruling by Justice Musa Liman of the same court, which affirmed the legitimacy of the Mark-led leadership, and said it would challenge the verdict through all available judicial channels. Atiku also condemned the decision and said he would take the matter to the Court of Appeal.
