• Dismisses emergence of factional presidential candidate

• Claims Tinubu’s 10.99m votes prelude to 2027 rigging plans

From Ndubuisi Orji,Abuja

Asformer Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former minister, Rotimi Amaechi and former chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mohammed Hayatu-deen jostle for presidential ticket, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said it is setting the pace for internal democracy with the conduct of its primaries for the 2027 general election.

Chairman, ADC Presidential Primaries Committee, Chief Ikechi Emenike, stated this, at a press briefing, yesterday, ahead of the declaration of results for the opposition party’s nomination exercise.

This is as the party dismissed the nomination of a presidential candidate by a faction of the party led by Kingsley Ogga, saying the Senator David Mark-led National Working Committee (NWC) remains the duly recognised leadership of the opposition party.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC also described the 10.99 million votes scored by President Bola Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress ( APC) presidential primary as a prelude to alleged plans by the ruling party to rig the 2027 presidential contest.

The ADC said President Tinubu’s score was bizarre and dismissed the president’s comments against the opposition as self-serving.

The ADC faction, at its National Convention, on Sunday, nominated Dumebi Kachikwu, as the party’s presidential candidate.

According to Abdullahi, “this matter has gone up to Supreme, the highest court in the land. It affirmed that there’s only one leadership of former Senate president, David Mark and former Governor Rauf Aregbesola.”

On its ongoing presidential primary, Ikechi noted that unlike “the culture of imposition, consensus manipulation and predetermined outcomes” prevalent in other political parties, the ADC has given every aspirant an opportunity to present their programmes and earn the support of party members across the country.

The party leader assured members that the presidential primary would be a free and credible exercise, which will strengthen internal democracy as well as deepen democratic culture in the country.

“At a time when democratic values are increasingly being degraded within the nation’s political landscape, the ADC proudly stands out as the only political party in Nigeria presently demonstrating genuine commitment to transparent, inclusive and democratic principles in the selection of its presidential candidate.

“What differentiates ADC from other parties in Nigeria is that it is the only party blessed with three eminently qualified aspirants who are capable of piloting the affairs of this country at this most difficult time….

“As you can see, each one of them is a genuine Presidential contender, not some shadowy candidate contrived to confer legitimacy on a process where one man contested against himself.

“Quite significantly, the unhindered participation of our three eminent aspirants underscores the commitment of the African Democratic Congress to build a party rooted in democracy, dialogue and open contestations of ideas. It is for this reason that the ADC remains the true platform for democratic rebirth and national transformation.

“And as you would have seen, we know how to count properly and arithmetically. We are ADC. We will not inflate our registration numbers to deceive Nigerians. And when counting the votes, we will not jump from 3 to 30 or from 500 to 1,000,” Ikechi mocked the APC.

The ADC added that it was shocked and saddened that President Tinubu, whose administration has presided over one of the most painful periods in Nigeria’s democratic history, would speak so dismissively about the opposition and the Nigerian people while awarding himself a medal for one of the most catastrophic economic policies in recent history.

“It is both ironic and tragic that a government under whose watch nearly 35 million Nigerians are now projected to face acute food insecurity in 2026 would accuse the opposition of lacking ideas or vision. This is a government under which inflation has devastated household incomes, food prices have become unbearable, insecurity has continued to spread across the country, and millions of Nigerians now live with a level of economic anxiety and hopelessness never before experienced in recent national history.

“Under President Tinubu’s administration, millions of families have been forced to reduce meals, businesses are shutting down daily under unbearable economic pressure, and farmers across many parts of the country can no longer safely access their farmlands because of banditry, kidnappings and violent attacks.

“International organisations have repeatedly warned that Nigeria is facing one of the worst food insecurity crises in the world, with recent assessments projecting that about 34.7 million Nigerians could face severe food and nutrition insecurity during the 2026 lean season.

“At the same time, over 2.3 million Nigerians remain displaced by violence and insecurity, while communities across the North West and North Central continue to suffer repeated attacks with little assurance of safety from the government.”

Furthermore, the opposition party noted that “instead of humility, accountability or empathy, President Tinubu has chosen to attack an opposition that has consistently demonstrated more seriousness about governance than many members of his own administration.

“The ADC finds it deeply unfortunate that a President under whose watch the naira has collapsed in value, purchasing power has evaporated, and poverty has deepened at an alarming rate would attempt to caricature the opposition as lacking vision. Nigerians know where they were before this government came into office, and they know where they are today.

“The truth is that the opposition did not create the hunger in the land. The opposition did not destroy the value of the naira. The opposition did not create the insecurity that has turned farming communities into killing fields.

“The opposition did not push businesses into collapse or force millions of young Nigerians into despair and economic uncertainty. Nigerians understand clearly who is responsible for the hardship they are currently enduring, and no amount of political subterfuge can erase the reality of daily suffering across the country.

“President Tinubu must understand that Nigerians are no longer interested in speeches or political grandstanding. Nigerians are asking simple questions: Why is food unaffordable? Why are businesses collapsing? Why are citizens increasingly unsafe? Why are more Nigerians falling into poverty despite endless promises of reform and recovery?”

“The ADC therefore says this clearly and unequivocally to President Tinubu: the opposition will move Nigeria forward. Nigeria cannot continue on this disastrous path of economic pain without measurable progress, worsening insecurity, institutional decline, and growing hopelessness. Nigerians deserve competent leadership, compassionate governance, and a government that understands that power exists to improve lives, not merely to retain control.”