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Ruling APC jettisoned zoning when convenient, ignored religious balance, and now seeks to lecture others

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of selectively invoking zoning principles while abandoning them whenever they threaten political advantage.

In a pointed rebuttal, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said Keyamo’s sermon on zoning ignores the APC’s own pattern: dismiss zoning when it stands in the way, defend it when it serves the party.

Abdullahi revisited the 2015 Senate presidency tussle, noting that the APC initially zoned the position to the North-Central, until it became clear that Bukola Saraki could emerge. At that point, party power brokers argued that zoning was “a PDP creation” and incompatible with progressive politics, and shifted support to Ahmad Lawan from the North-East.

For Abdullahi, that moment defined the APC’s real doctrine: principles are optional, power is not.

He argued that the party repeated the same pattern in presidential primaries, throwing the contests open in 2015 and 2023, and effectively “zoning” 2027 not to any region, but to the incumbent further proof, he said, that APC treats zoning as a talking point, not a binding commitment.

Beyond geography, Abdullahi faulted the party’s handling of religious balance, calling the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket a calculated gamble that cut across Nigeria’s fragile lines of trust.

“In choosing a same-faith ticket, APC wasn’t making a philosophical statement. It was making a raw political calculation and the country has lived with the consequences,” he said.

Turning to Keyamo’s concern about ADC’s internal decisions, Abdullahi said the ADC is building a “winning coalition,” but unlike the APC, it has boundaries it will not cross in the name of victory. “Our choices will be strategic,” he said, “but they will also be responsible. We have seen where win-at-all-cost politics has taken Nigeria.”

He also rejected claims that the ADC is built around a single politician, calling it an attempt to provoke Peter Obi’s supporters and distort emerging political alignments. Events in Enugu over New Year’s Eve, he suggested, showed that strategy had failed.

Abdullahi ended on a polite note, wishing Keyamo a Happy New Year, but his core message remained blunt: before lecturing others on zoning, the APC must confront its own record of bending the rules whenever power is at stake.

See Malam Abdullahi’s full statement below:

My brother @fkeyamo, Happy New Year!

We never even start, you don de write this kind long epistle. You for wait small now. But on a serious note, your perspective on the issue of zoning is not correct.

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).

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.

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.

Finally, what you said about the ADC being organised around an individual’s ambition is not true. And every ADC member knows this. If anything, it is just a weak attempt at gaslighting the @PeterObi camp. But with what happened in Enugu on New Year’s Eve, don’t you think that your stratagem has not worked?

Once again, Happy New Year, brother.