Two presidential hopefuls in African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chibuike Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, have rejected the outcome of the party’s presidential nomination results, alleging foul play.
That was as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar maintained significant lead in the presidential primaries across the country with a wide margin.
Although all the results had not fully come in from across the states, those already declared showed Atiku leading with such margins nearly impossible for Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen to close.
Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation, said on X:
“Following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement in most parts of the country during the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primaries yesterday, I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced.
“I had initially stated that I will only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair, and transparent, and I stand by my word.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party.
“There’s no way that about eighty per cent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results. Then what makes us different from the others?”
Amaechi added, “The whole idea of the ADC was to give the Nigerian people a platform, to amplify the voices of the downtrodden, and make Nigeria a better place for everyone irrespective of backgrounds, ethnicity, or religion.
“A party that criticises the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging, and writing of results cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that lead to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!”
Hayatu-Deen also announced that he would not attend the official announcement of the ADC presidential primary results, citing concerns over alleged widespread electoral malpractice.
In a post shared on X, Hayatu-Deen said he was disturbed by reports of vote rigging from different parts of the country. He added that some of the irregularities were personally observed by him during the exercise.
He stated, “I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC presidential election results today.
“I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”