The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to make public its membership register, dismissing the ruling party’s claim of having 11 million members and projected votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The opposition party also insisted that it remains the only political party currently conducting a transparent and credible presidential primary process.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Monday during the collation of results from the ADC presidential primaries, Chairman of the party’s Presidential Primary Election Committee, Chief Ikechi Emenike, said the ADC had demonstrated a genuine commitment to internal democracy and transparency in the selection of its candidates
According to him, every qualified aspirant was given a fair opportunity to canvass support from party members across the country without manipulation or imposition.
“The ADC has embraced a credible democratic process that gives every qualified aspirant equal opportunity to present their vision and earn the support of party members nationwide,” Emenike said.
He took a swipe at the APC over what he described as inflated figures and questionable arithmetic in the electoral process.
“As you can see, we know how to count properly and arithmetically. We are ADC; we will not inflate our registration numbers to deceive Nigerians. When counting votes, we will not jump from three to 30 or from 500 to 1,000,” he stated.
Also speaking, the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, described the APC’s claim of having 11 million registered members as “false and misleading,” challenging the ruling party to present its membership register for public scrutiny.
“We are proud that we are the only political party conducting presidential primaries today. As we speak, none of the aspirants can confidently say they will emerge as the party’s flagbearer, because the process is transparent. The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon,” Abdullahi said.
He disclosed that the ADC had submitted a verified membership figure of 3.4 million members to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that the party had no reason to manipulate figures.
“We have 3.4 million registered members who have already submitted to INEC. We do not need to inflate figures and deceive Nigerians like the APC. If the APC claims it has 11 million members, let them publish the register. Those claims are nothing but lies,” he added.
On the issue of alleged factional leadership and parallel presidential candidates within the ADC, Abdullahi dismissed the reports, insisting that there was no faction recognised by law within the party.
“I am surprised that some people are still referring to it as a faction. There is no faction in ADC. If you check the INEC portal, the names of Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola are there as the recognised leadership.
“As far as we are concerned, whatever gathering they held was merely for their own entertainment. It has nothing to do with the ADC,” he said.
