2027: ADC Rejects Kachikwu’s Emergence, Accuses APC Of Inflating Membership Figures

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has dismissed as illegal the convention that produced its 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, as the party’s flag bearer for the 2027 presidential election.

The party insisted that there was no faction within the ADC, saying the gathering that reportedly adopted Kachikwu as the consensus presidential candidate did not follow due process and lacked the authority of the party’s recognised leadership.

The National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, stated this on Monday during a media briefing in Abuja ahead of the declaration of the party’s presidential primary election results on Tuesday.

Kachikwu had on Sunday emerged at a gathering of aggrieved party members held at A-Class Garden, Maitama, Abuja, where he was adopted as the ADC consensus presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

Reacting to the development, Abdullahi said the exercise that produced Kachikwu could not stand because it was not backed by the leadership recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He maintained that the only recognised leadership of the party was the one headed by former Senate President, David Mark, as National Chairman, and former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Secretary.

Abdullahi said, “If we start referring to a group of people who meet in a room to entertain themselves, that is not a good thing. INEC organises elections; this matter went up to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. It affirmed that there’s only one leadership of former Senate President David Mark and former Governor Rauf Aregbesola.”

The ADC spokesman said the party would not give legitimacy to any process conducted outside its recognised structure.

Abdullahi said the ADC was proud to be conducting what he described as the only real presidential primary election in the country.

He said the contest remained competitive among the three aspirants seeking the party’s presidential ticket.

According to him, no aspirant could confidently claim victory before the conclusion of the process.

He said, “In ADC, we are very proud that we are the only party that is conducting the real primary election in this country today. And even as you speak, none of the three aspirants can tell you confidently that he will fly the ticket of the ADC.

“We are very proud that we are giving Nigerians a very competitive internal democratic process. With the congresses and everything you have observed, the primary statistics today will culminate in the announcement of the winner tomorrow.”

The party’s presidential primary features former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; former Rivers State governor and ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; and economist and former Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen.

Abdullahi also disclosed that the ADC currently has over 3.4 million registered members, based on the membership register submitted to INEC.

He said the figure was verifiable and reflected the party’s commitment to transparency.

He said, “Based on the register of members that were submitted to INEC, we have 3,444,000 members. This is based on the membership register submitted to INEC, after cleaning up the entire process. We are very clear about this.

“We are building a political party that is based on certain principles, which include transparency. So this number I’ve given you, you can go to INEC and verify it, and you’ll find it exactly like that.

“We are not going to start cooking up figures to deceive Nigerians.”

The ADC spokesman also criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing it of inflating its membership figures ahead of the 2027 elections.

Abdullahi alleged that the APC was using exaggerated membership numbers to create the impression that it already had guaranteed votes before the election.

He said, “What the APC is doing is amusing and laughable. What they are doing is setting the stage for rigging the 2027 election by claiming they have 11m, 30m, or whatever number of members. What they are doing is to put it into your head to think that, ‘oh, at least 11m votes are guaranteed. It is all lies.”

He challenged the ruling party to produce a verifiable membership register submitted to INEC.

Abdullahi added, “If they indeed claim that they have 20 million members, they should produce a membership registration. They don’t have 20 million members; it’s all lies.”

Also speaking at the briefing, the ADC National Organising Secretary, Chinedu Idigo, said the party had put in place a careful process to ensure that credible candidates emerged from its primaries.