The African Democratic Congress (African Democratic Congress) has said it has not reached a conclusion on allegations of irregularities raised during its ongoing presidential primary election, noting that result collation is still in progress across the country.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the leadership currently lacks sufficient material to either confirm or dismiss claims of manipulation made by some aspirants.
Speaking during a television interview, Abdullahi said the process remains incomplete.
“We don’t have any evidence now to be able to support his position or to deny his position,” he said. “We have not collated the results, we have not noticed any pattern in the results.”
He added that the party had only received partial returns from across the federation.
“Eleven states’ results have been received, and we are still awaiting some other results,” he said.
The clarification follows protests from two leading aspirants in the contest, including businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen and former Minister of Transportation and ex–Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Hayatu-Deen rejected the process, saying he would not participate in the announcement of results. In a post on his X account, he stated: “I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today.”
He added concerns about the credibility of the exercise, saying: “I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed.”
Amaechi also dismissed the outcome being announced by the party, describing it as unacceptable.
“I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” he said, adding that the process did not reflect standards previously promised by the party leadership.
He also questioned the participation level in the exercise, stating: “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.”
Amaechi said he had earlier pledged to accept only a credible process. “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,” he said.
He further accused the party of inconsistency with its stated principles, arguing that the exercise failed to meet internal expectations.
The primary, which also involves other prominent figures including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has not yet produced a final official result.
Abdullahi maintained that grievance mechanisms exist within the party structure for any contestant who wishes to formally challenge the process once collation is completed.
