BREAKING: Tension Rocks ADC as Amaechi, Hayatu-Deen Challenge Primaries

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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has appealed to aggrieved presidential aspirants, Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, to pursue their complaints through the party’s internal dispute resolution channels rather than making public accusations over the presidential primary election.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the appeal on Tuesday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid mounting controversy surrounding the primary election being conducted across the country.

The ADC held a nationwide direct primary on Monday to elect its presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general election.

Although the party had yet to officially declare final results from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory as of the time of filing this report, early figures from several states showed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar leading the race, with former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi trailing behind, while economist Mohammed Hayatu-Deen occupied third position.

Reacting to allegations of irregularities and vote manipulation raised by Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen, Abdullahi said there was currently no concrete evidence proving that the process had been rigged in favour of any aspirant.

“We currently do not have sufficient evidence to either support or dismiss those claims. Since the results are still being collated, we have not observed any clear pattern that would substantiate such allegations,” he said.

The ADC spokesman explained that the party had already established constitutional and statutory procedures for addressing electoral disputes and urged dissatisfied contestants to take advantage of those mechanisms.

“At this stage, we do not have enough information to conclusively say whether the allegations are true or false. We expect to have a clearer picture by the end of the day,” he added.

Abdullahi also dismissed concerns over reports of a parallel faction within the party, insisting that the ADC leadership remained recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission and was fully in charge of the ongoing congresses and primaries.

“The party leadership is not disturbed by the claims. INEC is fully aware of who is conducting the legitimate convention of the African Democratic Congress, and under the law, the genuine organisers are clearly recognised,” he said.

He further disclosed that officials of the electoral commission had actively monitored every stage of the party’s congresses and primary elections nationwide.

“INEC has attended and monitored all our congresses and primary elections across the 36 states and the FCT. Every stage of the process has been fully documented by INEC officials,” he said.

Abdullahi also expressed confidence in the transparency and legitimacy of the exercise, stressing that the continued presence of INEC officials at the collation centre reinforced the credibility of the process.

The intervention by the party leadership came after Amaechi publicly rejected the primary results, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and irregularities, while Hayatu-Deen boycotted the final collation ceremony over claims of vote rigging.