Amaechi Rejects ADC Presidential Primary Results, Allergies Widespread Voter Disenfrenchisement
By Sunday Etuka
Former Minister of Transportation and ex-Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, has rejected the results of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, alleging that the process was marred by voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
In a strongly worded statement issued after the primary and posted on his X handle on Tuesday, Amaechi described the announced results as “concocted,” saying he would not accept an outcome from a process that is neither free, fair, nor transparent.
“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 said, adding that the conduct of the exercise contradicted everything the ADC claimed to stand for.
Amaechi stated that the party had built its identity around criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for vote buying, results writing, and rigging, only to allegedly engage in the same practices during its own internal election.
“A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members,” he said. “This is not acceptable!”
He said he had previously made it clear that his acceptance of any primary result be conditional on the integrity of the process.
Amaechi described the alleged misconduct as a betrayal of the ADC’s founding mission, which he reiterated was to offer Nigerians a credible alternative to the ruling party and amplifying the voices of ordinary citizens.
“The whole idea of the ADC was to give the Nigerian people a platform, to amplify the voices of the downtrodden, and make Nigeria a better place for everyone irrespective of backgrounds, ethnicity, or religion,” he said.
