The African Democratic Congress on Monday dismissed as illegal the convention that produced former presidential candidate Dumebi Kachikwu as the party’s flag bearer for the 2027 presidential election, insisting that there is no faction within the party.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja ahead of the declaration of the party’s presidential primary election results on Tuesday, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the exercise that reportedly produced Kachikwu did not follow due process and lacked the backing of the party’s recognised leadership.
Kachikwu had emerged on Sunday at a gathering of aggrieved party members held at A-Class Garden, Maitama, Abuja, where he was adopted as the ADC consensus presidential candidate for the 2027 polls. He was also the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election.
However, Abdullahi faulted the process, maintaining that the only leadership recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission is the one headed by former Senate President, David Mark, as National Chairman and former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Secretary.
“If we start referring to a group of people who meet in a room to entertain themselves, that is not a good thing. INEC organises elections; this matter went up to the Supreme Court, 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,” he said.
The ADC spokesman said the party was proud to be conducting what he described as the only credible presidential primary election in the country, stressing that the contest remained open among the three aspirants vying for the ticket.
“In ADC, we are very proud that we are the only party that is conducting the real primary election in this country today. And even as you speak, none of the three aspirants can tell you confidently that he will fly the ticket of the ADC.
“We are very proud that we are giving Nigerians a very competitive internal democratic process. With the congresses and everything you have observed, the primary statistics today will culminate in the announcement of the winner tomorrow (Tuesday),” Abdullahi stated.
He further disclosed that the party currently has over 3.4 million registered members, as recorded in records submitted to INEC.
“Based on the register of members that were submitted to INEC, we have 3,444,000 members. This is based on the membership register submitted to INEC, after cleaning up the entire process. We are very clear about this.
“We are building a political party that is based on certain principles, which include transparency. So this number I’ve given you, you can go to INEC and verify it, and you’ll find it exactly like that.
“We are not going to start cooking up figures to deceive Nigerians,” he said.
Abdullahi also took a swipe at the ruling All Progressives Congress, accusing it of inflating its membership figures in preparation for the 2027 elections.
“What the APC is doing is amusing and laughable. What they are doing is setting the stage for rigging the 2027 election by claiming they have 11m, 30m, or whatever number of members. What they are doing is to put it into your head to think that, ‘oh, at least 11m votes are guaranteed. It is all lies,” he added.
He challenged the ruling party to “produce a verifiable membership registration submitted to INEC,” stressing, “If they indeed claim that they have 20 million members, they should produce a membership registration. They don’t have 20 million members; it’s all lies.”
