ADC Primary Pauses With Atiku On 1.4 Million Votes

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar surged to an overwhelming early lead in the African Democratic Congress presidential primary on Tuesday night, polling more than 1.4 million votes across 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory before the exercise was abruptly adjourned shortly before midnight.

The figures, announced state by state at the national collation centre in Abuja, transformed what had been billed as a competitive three way contest into a one sided race, with Atiku building margins that his closest rivals, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and businessman Mohammed Hayatu Deen, appeared mathematically unable to close as collation moved into its final stretch.

Chairman of the Presidential Primary Election Committee, Ikechi Emenike, suspended proceedings after hours of declarations by returning officers, citing the Eid al Kabir celebration and travel difficulties faced by some officials still en route to Abuja.

“Collation for the remaining states will commence by 8 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday). Some returning officers had flight challenges getting to Abuja,” Emenike said.

By the time the gavel came down, results from 24 states and the FCT had been declared, leaving 12 states outstanding. The declared states included Borno, Kebbi, Anambra, Abia, Ekiti, Ondo, Gombe, Oyo, Imo, Yobe, Nasarawa, Enugu, Benue, Osun, Adamawa, Kogi, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto, Taraba, Zamfara, Ebonyi, Niger, Plateau and the FCT.

Running totals from the declared states placed Atiku at 1,432,275 votes, with Amaechi trailing at 246,455 and Hayatu Deen on 135,375. The former vice president therefore commanded roughly 79 percent of the total votes cast across the announced states, with Amaechi on about 13.6 percent and Hayatu Deen on 7.5 percent.

Atiku’s strongest performances came from his northern stronghold. Adamawa, his home state, delivered the night’s single largest haul at 177,141 votes, dwarfing Amaechi’s 1,896 and Hayatu Deen’s 18,949. Kano produced 155,595 votes for Atiku, while Gombe returned one of the most lopsided outcomes of the night with 136,933 votes for the former vice president against Amaechi’s 1,140 and Hayatu Deen’s 455.

Other dominant northern returns included Borno (86,084), Niger (79,206), Kebbi (65,523), Sokoto (63,823) and Zamfara (60,500).

Amaechi mounted his most credible resistance in the North Central and parts of the South East. In Benue, he polled 30,881 votes against Atiku’s 55,177 and Hayatu Deen’s 22,141. Taraba returned 25,150 votes for Amaechi, while Kogi gave him 23,573, his third highest tally of the night. Akwa Ibom (20,343), Abia (18,339) and Anambra (17,085) provided additional pockets of strength.

Hayatu Deen’s notable showings came in Benue (22,141), Adamawa (18,949), Niger (15,840) and Kano (15,914), though none proved sufficient to dent Atiku’s dominance.

Curiously, Ebonyi stood out as the lone declared state where Atiku finished third, polling just 1,210 votes against Amaechi’s 6,400 and Hayatu Deen’s 4,840, a result that drew quiet attention from delegates inside the hall.

By the time collation was suspended, conversations among delegates and party officials had shifted from speculation about the eventual winner to the scale of Atiku’s lead, the political message embedded in the lopsided northern returns, and whether the 12 outstanding states could meaningfully alter the trajectory of the race.

With proceedings set to resume on Wednesday evening, attention now turns to the remaining declarations and what the final tally will mean for the ADC’s positioning ahead of the 2027 general elections.