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Former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant on the platform of the African Democratic Congress, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday rejected the outcome of the party’s presidential primary, accusing the leadership of disenfranchising members and manipulating the process.
The rejection opens a fresh crisis within the ADC at a critical moment for the opposition party, which has been presenting itself as a credible alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
In a statement posted on X, Amaechi said he was rejecting what he described as ‘concocted results’ following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement during the primary across the country.
Amaechi said, “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.”
The former Rivers State governor alleged that nearly 80 per cent of party members were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent 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 asked.
Amaechi said the ADC was created to give ordinary Nigerians a voice and offer a genuine alternative to the kind of politics it once condemned.
Criticising the party leadership, Amaechi said: “A party that criticizes 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 leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!”
The remarks are expected to deepen tensions within the ADC and intensify scrutiny of the party’s presidential primary process as opposition parties prepare for the 2027 general election.
Former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has rejected the results of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential primaries, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi, in a statement posted on his X handle on Tuesday, described the outcome of the exercise as “concocted results.”
He said he had earlier made it clear that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that about 80 percent of party members across the country were prevented from voting during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Rivers State governor accused the party of engaging in practices it had previously condemned in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
According to him, the ADC cannot criticize vote buying, rigging and manipulation of election results by others while allegedly engaging in similar acts during its own primary.
Amaechi added that the development was unacceptable and contrary to the ideals upon which the party was founded.
President Bola Tinubu has emerged as the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate after defeating Stanley Osifo
The president polled 10.99 million votes to defeat his only rival, who scored 16,504 in the APC presidential primaries held in 8,809 wards across the country.
This emerged from the ongoing national collation of the presidential primaries results at the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja.
APC governors in 31 states and other top brass of APC who are coordinators and collation officers in their states presented the results of the direct primaries to the presidential Primary Election Committee, chaired by former Senate President Pius Anyim.
