Collation of presidential election results by the David Mark-led faction of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has been declared suspended over absence of five out of 11 remaining states.
The committee is expected to resume the collation exercise in Abuja at 8pm on Wednesday which has been declared a public holiday to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid-Kabir.
Meanwhile, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has won in 23 out of the 25 states so far announced securing landslide victory over his co-contenders, former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and businessman, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen.
The results collation which began several hours behind the scheduled time on Tuesday was heralded by uncertainties.
First, it was the report that the former chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen rejected the yet-to-be-announced figures, claiming that it was marred by electoral malpractices witnessed by him when he voted in his ward in Borno state, North-East Nigeria.
Hayatu-Deen through his social media handle distanced himself from the venue of the collation centre and assured his followers that he will announce his next political moves but it is unclear if he is planning to defect to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC as speculated by many.
As the delay persisted, another news filtered in that the second out of the three presidential aspirants, Rotimi Amaechi also rejected the results.
Amaechi on his X handle raised concerns about the ADC’s election committee’s poor conduct of the exercise which disenfranchised many of the party’s registered members according to the results coming in from states. He expressed disappointment that his party is toeing the line of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC which has failed to provide basic necessities for Nigerians.
Earlier, AIT.live gathered that before the allegations by the two aspirants were made public, the party’s national chairman, David Mark held a closed-door meeting with the three aspirants at his Abuja residence.
Reacting to the development, the ADC national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi expressed disappointment that such allegations were raised by the two presidential aspirants without waiting for the outcome of the results collation.
At 6:32pm on Tuesday, the collation began with the results coming in from 25 states showing that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is leading in 23 states, positioning him on a strong path toward securing the party’s ticket for the 2027 presidential race.
While waiting for five states out of 11 to submit their election result sheets, the presidential election committee took a stand to suspend the exercise till Wednesday at 8pm to provide more time. Results have so far been taken from returning officers in Gombe, Sokoto, Abia, Edo, and 20 other states.
Amaechi was declared winner in Bayelsa and Ebonyi states, polling 6,050 votes in a parallel primary election.
In what seems to be compounding the party’s internal crisis, factions in Ebonyi State conducted parallel presidential primaries, producing separate winners in a development that further exposed the deepening crisis within the party in the state.
While one faction declared former Vice President Atiku Abubakar winner of the presidential primary reportedly conducted across the state’s 171 political wards, another faction loyal to the recognised state leadership announced former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as winner in a separate exercise.
Another separate breakaway faction in Ebonyi state held a non-elective congress where they had adopted the factional national leader of the ADC, Dumebi Kachikwu as their own presidential candidate.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
