African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain Dele Momodu says President Bola Tinubu will not listen to appeals over a court ruling that nullified former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate unless he is confronted.
Momodu was reacting to a video shared on social media in which Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde appealed to the Tinubu administration not to undermine Nigeria’s democratic institutions. The appeal followed a Federal High Court ruling nullifying the ADC leadership and Atiku’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate.
In the video, Makinde, who is the Allied Peoples Movement’s (APM) 2027 presidential candidate, said: “I want to appeal to the present administration. Governments will come and go, but our country will remain. We should not destroy our institutions, be it the judiciary or INEC… They must stop trying to shut out the opposition.”
Makinde made the appeal in an interview with Bauchi Radio Broadcasting on Friday, a day after Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the National Working Committee led by former Senate President David Mark and the decisions taken under it.
Sharing the video, Momodu, deputy director-general of media and communications for the ADC presidential campaign, disagreed with Makinde’s decision to appeal to the president.
“I assure you, sir, he (Tinubu) won’t listen unless he is confronted. He has the hawks goading him on. This was how the June 12, 1993, presidential election was recklessly annulled, and Nigeria is still bleeding to this day,” Momodu said.
“The truth is, Tinubu has already crossed the Rubicon, and the consequences will be severe for our long-suffering nation. Despite the obvious evidence that he no longer enjoys power, the pecuniary interests of his desperate acolytes will never allow the will of the people to prevail unless God intervenes.
“It is yet another disaster of monumental proportions. As they say in America, this is how the cookie crumbles!”
The ruling followed a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former ADC deputy national chairman for the North-East. He challenged the process through which Mark and former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola emerged as national chairman and national secretary, respectively, after Ralph Nwosu resigned.
The court invalidated the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting, held on July 27, 2025, the presidential primary that produced Atiku, and other nominations. It also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise decisions taken at the meeting.
Atiku, who had selected former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate, has vowed to appeal the ruling. He described it as an attempt to weaken the opposition ahead of the January 16, 2027, election.
The Presidency has denied involvement in the suit. Presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala told AFP that the All Progressives Congress was “not involved at all” in the case.
Information and National Orientation Minister Mohammed Idris also said Tinubu does not interfere in matters concerning the courts or the legislature, adding that the executive must allow the judiciary to do its work.
