Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for unity within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) following his emergence as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
Atiku made the appeal in a statement posted on X on Wednesday after defeating former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen in the party’s primary election.
The ADC chieftain urged the aspirants and party members to put aside differences and work together ahead of the 2027 elections.
I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party, and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government,” Atiku said.
According to the ADC, Atiku secured 1,846,370 votes to defeat Amaechi, who polled 504,117 votes, while Hayatu-Deen got 177,120 votes.
The former PDP presidential candidate praised the ADC for conducting what he described as a transparent democratic process, while accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of undermining democracy and opposition politics in the country.
We demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled by the ruling party and its oppressive and anti-democratic government, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress, Atiku stated.
Accepting the outcome of the election, he appreciated party members for the opportunity to lead the ADC into the next election cycle, describing the victory as a “singular honour”.
I wish to express my profound appreciation for the privilege which you have bestowed on me to lead our great party, the African Democratic Congress, into the next elections as its Presidential Candidate. I am truly humbled and excited by this singular honour,” he added
The former vice president also alleged that opposition parties and politicians were being targeted by the current administration through state institutions, including the judiciary and anti-corruption agencies.
“As I speak, virtually all opposition political parties in the country have leadership crises engineered by the APC government, the INEC and elements in the judiciary,” he claimed.
The ex-vice president also warned against what he described as attempts by the government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to interfere in the affairs of the ADC.
