Former Rivers State Governor and presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress, Rotimi Amaechi, has rejected the outcome of the party’s presidential primary election, dismissing the results as fraudulent and “concocted.”
According to The Punch, Amaechi made his position known in a statement shared on his verified X account on Tuesday, shortly after the ADC conducted its presidential primary across various states in the country.
He alleged that the process was characterised by widespread disenfranchisement of voters in several states, including the Federal Capital Territory, insisting that many party members were denied the opportunity to participate.
“Following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement in most parts of the country during the African Democratic Congress Presidential Primaries yesterday, I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi stated.
He maintained that he would not accept any outcome that did not emerge from a credible, transparent, and fair process.
“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 asked.
Amaechi further accused the party of repeating the same electoral practices it had previously condemned in other political parties.
“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,” he said.
His rejection followed a similar protest from another presidential aspirant, Mohammed Hayatu Deen, who also walked out of the final collation and declaration exercise over alleged irregularities.
Despite the controversy, result collation continued in Abuja, where former Vice President Atiku Abubakar reportedly maintained a strong lead, winning in multiple states across the federation.
Reports indicated that Atiku secured victories in over 22 states and the FCT, while Amaechi was said to have won in two states.
In response to the allegations, the African Democratic Congress, African Democratic Congress, urged dissatisfied aspirants to submit formal complaints through its internal dispute resolution channels rather than make public accusations.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, stated that there was no evidence to support claims that the primary election was rigged.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, was also referenced in the controversy, as Amaechi compared the party’s conduct with institutions he said should represent electoral integrity.
