Former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has come out to reject the results of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Primaries, which held on Monday.
Taking to X, Amaechi, one of the aspirants for the ADC Presidential ticket alongside former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, made known, he is “unequivocally” rejecting the “concocted” results due to reports of “widespread voter disenfranchisement”.
Via an official statement, which he titled, ‘I reject the concocted results of the ADC Presidential Primaries’, signed by himself, Amaechi said: “Following reports of widespread voter disenfranchisement in most parts of the country during the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Primaries yesterday, I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced.”
The former Minister of Transportation, who served under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, said, he had earlier made known, he will only accept the result of the Primaries if the process went “free, fair, and transparent”.
He added, ADC had pledged to pull Nigerians out of “impunity and mismanagement” plaguing the country currently.
Amaechi said: “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.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party.”
He wailed, it is not possible for about “eighty percent” of the Party members to be disallowed from voting; he asked, “Then what makes us different from the others?”
Amaechi, who contested in the APC Presidential Primaries conducted in June 2022 against Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but, emerged second, said, the ADC cannot allow itself get engaged in “vote buying” after criticizing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the same.
Amaechi said: “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?
“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.
“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!”
Photo: Rotimi Amaechi participates in the Presidential Primaries of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) at his Ward in Ubima, Ikwerre LGA, Rivers State | Chibuike R. Amaechi/X
