A video of Segun Showunmi, former aide to Atiku Abubakar, dancing in celebration after the court nullified the African Democratic Congress, ADC, flagbearer’s candidacy has gone viral on social media.
In the video, Showunmi is seen dancing and laughing moments after news broke that the Federal High Court in Abuja had sacked the ADC leadership and voided Atiku’s presidential ticket for 2027.
“I forewarned. I told them this would happen. They did not listen,” Showunmi said in the video.
Showunmi has been one of the loudest critics of Atiku’s move to the ADC. He had repeatedly warned that the coalition that took over the ADC under former Senate President David Mark was built on a faulty foundation and would not survive a legal challenge.
Recall that Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja sacked the Mark-led leadership of the ADC and voided the party’s presidential ticket held by Atiku.
The judge said the Mark-led Caretaker Committee, which conducted the party’s presidential primary that produced Atiku as its flagbearer, is illegal.
The judge also sacked all the national officers of the party, including National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola, alongside all the candidates the party presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the 2027 elections.
The suit was filed by the former ADC Deputy National Chairman, North-East, Nafiu Bala Gombe. He challenged the process through which Mark and other members assumed the party’s leadership after the resignation of former chairman Ralph Nwosu.
In the viral video, Showunmi did not hide his joy. He danced, clapped and repeated his warning that Atiku was misled by those who pushed him into the ADC.
“When I was shouting, they said I was bitter. When I warned, they said I was jealous. Now the court has spoken,” he said.
Showunmi had in the past said Atiku should have stayed in the PDP and rebuilt the party, instead of joining a coalition he described as a gathering of aggrieved politicians with no structure.