Former Rivers State Governor and presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress, Rotimi Amaechi, has rejected the outcome of the party’s presidential primary, describing the results announced across the country as “concocted.”
Amaechi, one of the three contenders for the ADC ticket alongside former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and economist Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, made his position known in a statement posted on his verified X handle on Tuesday.
The former Minister of Transportation alleged that the exercise conducted across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on Monday was marred by widespread voter disenfranchisement.
According to him, he would only accept the outcome of the primary if the process was free, fair and transparent.
Amaechi said a large number of party members were prevented from voting, questioning the credibility of the exercise.
“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?” he said.
He added that the ADC was formed to provide Nigerians with a credible political alternative and warned against practices capable of undermining the party’s integrity.
Amaechi accused the party of engaging in the same electoral malpractices it had often criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission for, including vote buying, result manipulation and voter disenfranchisement.
His rejection of the process came hours after fellow aspirant Hayatu-Deen announced his decision to boycott the final collation and declaration ceremony in Abuja over alleged irregularities.
In a statement posted on his verified X account, Hayatu-Deen said he would not attend the announcement of the results due to reports of widespread vote rigging, some of which he claimed to have personally observed.
Despite the protests by two of the aspirants, collation of results continued on Tuesday at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, where returning officers submitted figures from state primaries.
As of late Tuesday night, Atiku was leading in most of the announced results, winning in 22 states and the FCT out of the 24 states declared before officials went on break. Amaechi secured victory in two states.
The development has raised concerns over the credibility of the exercise and may increase tensions within the opposition party ahead of the 2027 general election.
Atiku recorded wide margins in several states, including Ekiti, where he polled 18,395 votes against Amaechi’s 1,574 and Hayatu-Deen’s 149 votes.
In the FCT, Atiku scored 18,704 votes, while Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen polled 14,721 and 5,575 respectively.
In Gombe State, Atiku secured 136,933 votes, while Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen recorded 1,141 and 455 votes respectively.
Atiku also emerged victorious in Enugu, Benue, Abia, Yobe, Ondo and Edo states with significant margins over the other contenders.
Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission were present at the venue to monitor the exercise.
The ADC leadership had yet to officially respond to the allegations raised by Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen as of the time of filing this report.
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