THE African Democratic Congress (ADC) has postponed the collation of results for its presidential election.
Chairman of the party’s presidential primary election committee, Ikechi Emenike, announced the postponement Tuesday night after more than four hours of result collation at the congress hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
Emenike said the decision to suspend the collation was taken to allow Muslim party members to observe Eid-el-Kabir, adding that the exercise would resume at 8 p.m. today (Wednesday)
The ICIR reported that ADC conducted a nationwide direct primary on Monday to select its candidate for the 2027 presidential election, with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former managing director of the defunct FSB International Bank, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, and a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi emerging as the leading contenders.
According to the Cable, the results collated so far show that Abubakar is leading with 1,390,276 votes, while Amaechi secured 248,455 votes and Hayatu-Deen trails with 156,075 votes.
Abubakar is currently ahead in 22 states, including Kebbi, Anambra, Abia, Ekiti, Ondo, Gombe, Oyo, Imo, Yobe, Nasarawa, Enugu, Benue, Osun, Kogi, Taraba, Kano, Adamawa, Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, Niger, Plateau, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
However, Amaechi, is leading in Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi states.
The ICIR reported that the primary was marred by controversy, as Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen rejected the results, alleging widespread irregularities and voter disenfranchisement.
Amaechi, said that the process was neither free nor transparent, alleging that about 80 per cent of party members were denied the opportunity to vote.
He stressed that ADC could not be engaging in the same practices it accused the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission of committing.
Hayatu-Deen also rejected the process and announced that he would not attend the official declaration of the results.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.