Further Interference in ADC Affairs by Presidency, INEC, Judiciary Will Be Fiercely Resisted, Atiku Warns
Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has warned the Presidency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the judiciary to desist from interfering in the affairs of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), warning that any further attempt would be firmly resisted.
Atiku gave the warning after emerging victorious in the ADC presidential primary election with 1,846,370 votes, ahead of former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who secured 504,117 votes, and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who polled 177,120 votes.
He expressed gratitude to the party for the privilege and confidence reposed in him to lead it into the 2027 presidential election.
“We demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its oppressive and anti-democratic government, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress. In our party, members are allowed to express their views, to have ambitions and to contest for elective positions in a free, fair and transparent process.
“Our great party is a coalition built through hard work, immense sacrifices and compromises, guided by our determination to rescue our country’s democracy which is facing its greatest threat since the return to democratic rule in 1999,” he said.
Atiku alleged that opposition political parties in the country are currently facing leadership crises engineered by the APC government, INEC, and the judiciary.
He also noted that opposition figures are being harassed and intimidated, including former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who is currently in detention.
“He has been in detention for three months despite court orders granting him bail. He has been denied the right to celebrate two important religious holidays with his family in addition to being denied the opportunity to be by his mother’s side as she took her last breath. All because he is a leading opposition figure. This kind of cruelty must stop,” he stated.
Atiku accused the government of continuous harassment, intimidation, and coercion of opposition politicians into joining the APC, using security agencies as well as agencies set up by previous administrations to fight corruption.
He equally alleged that under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, once a person joins the APC, the harassment ceases and the charges against them magically disappear, lamenting that the abuse of power must stop.
“Great care was taken to ensure that due diligence was done in the process of forming this coalition. Yet the government and the INEC continue to undermine it, even trying to deregister it. Let me warn that any further attempt to interfere in the affairs of the party by the Presidency, INEC and judiciary will be fiercely resisted. Enough is enough,” he declared.
Atiku congratulated his fellow contestants for the party’s ticket ahead of the elections scheduled for early next year, noting that they were driven by patriotism, commitment to a better Nigeria, and the desire to improve the lives of Nigerians.
He expressed concern over what he described as Nigeria’s rapid descent into economic hardship, worsening insecurity, extreme nepotism, political intolerance, and an alleged drive towards a one-party state by the current government and the APC.
While appreciating the healthy participation of his fellow contestants in the democratic process, Atiku stressed that this was not the time for celebration, emphasising that no one was defeated because they all belong to one party and must recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
He called on ADC members to unite and work together to pull the country and its citizens out of what he described as the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent, and polarising APC government.
Atiku further thanked the primary election committee for organising peaceful, free, fair, and transparent primaries. He also commended the various leadership organs of the ADC, stakeholders, volunteers, party members, and supporters for their hard work, patience, dedication, and conduct throughout the process.
He urged party members and supporters to prepare to campaign vigorously in order to win the next general election and begin what he described as the difficult process of rescuing Nigeria and its long-suffering people from the APC government.
