ADC Primary a “Sham”, Party Chieftain Slams Process

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, Ibrahim Wala, has thrown his weight behind the rejection of the party’s recently concluded presidential primary election, describing the process as a betrayal of the democratic principles the opposition party claims to champion.

The development follows a public rejection of the primary results by former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant, Rotimi Amaechi, who declared on his official X handle on Tuesday that the exercise failed to meet the standards of transparency and fairness promised by the ADC ahead of the contest.

Reacting in a Facebook post on Wednesday, Wala issued one of the strongest condemnations from within the party’s ranks, framing the primary as a betrayal of the ADC’s stated reformist agenda.

“What we witnessed during the primary elections was not a democratic primary; it was a brazen, shameless auction that betrayed every value the ADC promised to uphold,” Wala stated.

He further argued that the conduct of the exercise mirrored the very practices the ADC has consistently criticised in the ruling All Progressives Congress.

“While ADC publicly criticises the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying and result writing, the actors sent to conduct our own primaries became the very monsters we swore to fight,” he said.

Wala extended his appeal to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, urging him to publicly distance himself from what he described as “dirty, concocted primary election results.” He warned that any acceptance of the outcome would severely undermine the credibility of the ADC’s broader message of democratic reform and political alternative.

The party chieftain also raised concerns about the treatment of younger aspirants who he said joined the ADC in good faith, only to be sidelined during the contest.

“The greatest casualties of this daylight robbery were our young, fresh political aspirants. They came into this process believing in the alternative platform of the ADC, only to end up as the poor, bruised victims of this sham process,” he said.

“How can we claim to offer a rescue mission for Nigeria when we are practising the same impunity that brought the nation to its knees?” he asked.

Tying his protest to the Eid celebration, Wala aligned himself firmly with Amaechi’s rejection of the outcome.

“On this sacred day of Eid, where we celebrate the triumph of faith and sincerity over greed, I join Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in saying no to this charade. We will not accept results written in hotel rooms,” he stated.

The ADC, however, has pushed back against the rigging allegations. Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, the party’s spokesperson, Abdullahi, said no conclusive evidence had emerged to validate the claims raised by the aggrieved aspirants.

“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,” Abdullahi said.

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

The unfolding row threatens to deepen internal divisions within the ADC, a party that had positioned itself as a credible third force ahead of the 2027 general elections, drawing high profile defectors and presidential aspirants from across the political spectrum.