Dare Babalola
Former Minister of Transportation and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday rejected the outcome of the party’s presidential primaries, alleging widespread irregularities and voter disenfranchisement during the exercise.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Amaechi described the results of the primaries as “concocted,” insisting that the process failed to meet the standards of credibility, fairness, and transparency expected of the party.
The former Rivers State governor said he had made it clear before the exercise that he would only accept the outcome if the process was conducted in a free and fair manner.
According to him, the conduct of the primaries fell short of the ideals the ADC claimed to represent in its bid to provide Nigerians with an alternative political platform.
Amaechi alleged that a large percentage of party members across the country were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise, describing the situation as unacceptable.
“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.
He further accused the party leadership of engaging in the same electoral malpractices it had often condemned in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The former minister alleged incidents of vote buying, manipulation of results, and other forms of electoral misconduct during the primaries, warning that such actions undermine the credibility of the party.
Amaechi maintained that the ADC was created to give ordinary Nigerians a voice and provide a platform capable of addressing the country’s political and economic challenges without ethnic or religious bias.
He insisted that the party must uphold democratic values and avoid practices capable of eroding public trust in its leadership and internal processes.
