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Atiku emerges ADC presidential candidate, as party announces results of primary
Former Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar has emerged the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 general election.
He was declared winner of the presidential primary after polling 1,846,370 votes to beat former transport minister Rotimi Amaechi, who polled 504,117 votes, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen who scored 177,120 votes.
Speaking on the outcome of the primary, the party’s national chairman, former senate president David Mark, said though the exercise was not perfect, the party allowed a free contest where members had to make their choice.
He noted that while each of the aspirants was qualified to fly the party’s flag in the presidential race, only one person could represent the party.
The option A4 system was adopted in the direct primary, with members queuing behind their preferred aspirants, in an exercise which took place across 8,809 wards.
Atiku in his acceptance speech commended the party for a democratic exercise, while condemning the ruling party for squashing democracy.
“We demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by its ruling party and its operatives, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress,” he said.
Meanwhile, his close rival Rotimi Amaechi, had rejected the results of the presidential primary, prior to the declaration of the final results, accusing the party of electoral fraud.
Amaechi expressed his displeasure with the exercise on his X handle on Tuesday, stating that the primary was marred by widespread disenfranchisement of voters, lack of transparency and fairness.
“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,” he wrote.
His rejection of the process comes hours after fellow aspirant Hayatu-Deen withdrew from the electoral exercise, after alleging irregularities.
Hayatu-Deen had expressed concern in a statement on his X handle on Tuesday, over widespread electoral fraud in the primary.
“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,” he said in the statement.
Former governor of Anambra State Peter Obi and former Kano State governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had, prior to the primary, defected from the ADC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), citing intra-party crisis as the main reason behind their exit.
As the ADC sets to position itself as a major opposition party in the country, Atiku will now fly the party’s flag in the 2027 general election which was presented to him by the party’s leadership after emerging winner of the election.
