A presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has rejected the outcome of the party’s presidential primaries, describing the results yet to be collated by the party as “concocted.”
In a statement issued after the conduct of the primaries, he alleged widespread electoral malpractice during the exercise, saying that the process fell short of the standards of fairness, transparency and credibility earlier promised by the party.
“Following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement in most parts of the country during the ADC presidential primaries yesterday, I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” the statement read.
The aspirant maintained that he had made it clear before the exercise that he would only accept the outcome if the process was free, fair and transparent.
“I had initially stated that I will only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair, and transparent, and I stand by my word,” he said.
He further accused party officials of denying a large number of members the opportunity to participate in the exercise.
“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. Then what makes us different from the others?” he queried.
Amaechi said the ADC was established to provide Nigerians with a credible alternative capable of addressing what he described as the impunity and mismanagement associated with the ruling party.
According to him, the party must uphold the democratic principles it preaches to Nigerians.
“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 stated.
He also accused the party of engaging in the same electoral malpractices it had consistently condemned in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“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. This is not acceptable!” he added.
The ADC leadership had yet to officially respond to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
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