Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has warned that the Federal High Court judgment concerning the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) could trigger unrest if not properly managed.
Last Thursday, the Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the National Working Committee led by former Senate President David Mark. The ruling also invalidated the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, also nullified the emergence of former Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary and other decisions made by the Mark-led leadership, including the nomination of candidates for elective offices. The court further ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise or act on decisions made at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting on July 27, 2025.
The judgment followed a suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, filed by former ADC Deputy National Chairman (North-East) Nafiu Gombe, who challenged the process through which Mark and other members of the caretaker committee assumed control of the party.
In an interview with Mainland 98.3 FM, Amaechi said: “It could cause a civil war if it is not properly managed. When we heard the news, the presidential candidate, the party chairman and I quickly met and said, ‘Please, lower the tempo.’
“I am not making an allegation. There is a document signed by Nafiu showing that he resigned at the same time as Ralph Nwosu. There is also a video of him standing behind David Mark during the handover to Mark.
“They hire people, pay money, go to court and compromise the system here and there. There is no internal rift in our party—none. It is just fear of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“When they saw what happened in Sokoto, they began to create a crisis that would frighten voters. Looking at things, which other party is opposing the APC apart from the ADC?
“The President is from the South-West, and there are three other presidential candidates from the region. Even if they do not get every vote, they will certainly get some. And do not forget that Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde is also running. Let us assume he fails everywhere else in the South-West; he will not fail in Oyo, where he comes from. If he wins Oyo State, that is one state fewer for Tinubu.
“There is another presidential candidate from the South-East, Peter Obi, who will take five states in the region. Already, Tinubu has lost six states in the South. The battle is in the South-South, and I am their son. I am running as a vice-presidential candidate. Atiku Abubakar is running alone in the North, with its 19 states.”
Asked how he lost the 2023 APC presidential primary to President Bola Tinubu, Amaechi said: “Anybody could have defeated anybody. The only mistake I made was listening to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, who told me, ‘Don’t campaign, don’t do anything; I will announce you as my candidate.’ He even put it in writing.
“When he said that to me, I obeyed him because he was my boss. I thought that if he announced me, it would be a plus for us. I would have gone into the primaries and possibly won because I had the governors on my side.
“I did not do deals; Tinubu did deals. Secondly, Tinubu played on religion. I would never play religious politics.”
Amaechi said a delegation of Southern Muslims had visited Northern governors and urged them to support Tinubu on religious grounds.
“They told them that whenever there is an election, they support Southern Christians, and when there is an election in the North, the South supports them. They said that, for the sake of the faith, they should support Tinubu,” he said.
“Nasir El-Rufai was my supporter. He once said in a viral video that this was being done for the faith. Imagine how Christians felt—that he wanted to prove that Muslims own Nigeria. I would never run such an election.
“There are 35 million Catholics in Nigeria. I would not want to run that kind of election. If Catholics told all Catholics to go out and vote for Amaechi, that would cause confusion in the country. I would not do anything at all costs just because I want power.”
