The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, and the African Democratic Congress have traded words over zoning, opposition politics, and the roles of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Keyamo, in a post on X on Thursday, accused the ADC of failing to clearly zone its presidential ticket, alleging that the party was controlled by Atiku.

“So, there is no hiding place for the opposition, just like there is no hiding place for the ruling party,” Keyamo wrote.

He added that the ADC was afraid to openly zone its presidential ticket, arguing that Atiku had pushed the Peoples Democratic Party into a similar position ahead of the 2023 election, describing the outcome as “disastrous,” and warned that ambiguity over zoning could harm national unity.

He also said, “The ADC is scared to clearly ZONE its Presidential ticket, like the other major parties (PDP and APC) have done, because the party belongs to one man called Atiku Abubakar. It is the EXACT corner that Atiku pushed PDP to in 2023 that ADC now finds itself – the inability to zone its Presidential ticket.

“In a highly sensitive country like Nigeria, any pan-Nigerian Party MUST be clear as to zoning. The APC Governors did so in 2023 and triumphed. The PDP is still reeling from that disastrous decision in 2023.”

The minister further accused Atiku of attempting to “camouflage with Peter Obi” to secure votes, alleging that Obi was backing the arrangement for “selfish reasons”, including the prospect of a vice-presidential ticket.

“ATIKU wants to camouflage with Peter Obi and surreptitiously secure his votes and become President on a flawed template that will damage our fragile unity as a nation. And Peter Obi is supporting this contraption for selfish reasons – throwing the entire country under the bus for a mess of pottage called a VP ticket. He will soon learn the hard way.

“Commiserations to the naïve Obi supporters who are being led into a dead end by wily, old warhorses in politics,” Keyamo added.

Responding in a lengthy post on X, the ADC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, rejected Keyamo’s claims, describing his interpretation of zoning as incorrect.

“My brother, @fkeyamo, Happy New Year! We never even start; you don de write this kind long epistle,” Abdullahi wrote.

He said, “On a serious note, your perspective on the issue of zoning is not correct,” recalling internal debates within the APC after the 2015 election to argue that zoning had been rejected by some party leaders as “a PDP thing” and “alien to progressive politics.”

Abdullahi noted that APC’s presidential primaries had previously been open across regions. He said, “This was why Rochas Okorocha was able to contest alongside Buhari, Kwankwaso, Atiku, and Sam Nda-Isaiah,” and added that a similar pattern played out in 2023.

Turning to national cohesion, he said, “Talking about zoning as a mechanism for strengthening national unity, you would agree with me that this also includes religious balancing,” accusing the APC of undermining that balance with its Muslim–Muslim ticket.

“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. APC put a knife to this fragile rope of national unity when it settled for a Muslim-Muslim ticket,” he said, adding that any future change would be “a matter of political strategy,” not conscience.

On the ADC’s position, Abdullahi said, “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.”

Abdullahi also rejected claims that the ADC revolved around one individual, saying, “Finally, what you said about the ADC being organised around an individual’s ambition is not true. And every ADC member knows this.”

He described the allegation as “a weak attempt at gaslighting the Peter Obi camp,” and concluded, “Once again, Happy New Year, brother.” (The PUNCH)